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摘 要

尤金·奥尼尔（1888-1953）最著名的剧作《榆树下的欲望》，其中的男主人公伊本和女主人公艾比的命运深刻体现出当时美国社会现实中精神与物质的冲突。榆树下的欲望讲述了老农场主凯尔伯特迎娶了年轻貌美的艾比，而艾比为了生下孩子得到农场就勾引了他的小儿子伊本，但是艾比最后却发现自己爱上了伊本，并杀掉刚出生的婴儿来证明她对伊本的爱。

法国社会学大师布迪厄（1930-2002）提出了场域理论，他认为当代社会结构是一个活跃和密集的网络,每个个体和集体与整个社会的构建和发展紧密相连;相反,整个社会及其部分不停地影响每一个个体和群体,特别是在每一个人的自我追求上。而家庭伦理又是家庭场域中比不可少的一部分。

本文将通过分析当时男女主人公所处的家庭场域与家庭伦理来发掘他们做出的行为和选择的深层次原因。第一章主要介绍了剧中清教徒凯尔伯特作为家庭场域中资本最多的人把物质和欲望作为家庭伦理的原则，导致了家庭关系的扭曲；第二章主要阐述了家庭伦理对自我认知具有重要的影响；第三章主要从艾比与伊本的对比来说明人性与欲望的斗争，探究出奥尼尔对悲剧人物的讽刺，但又包含同情和理解的心情由此来批判资本主义场域中无视礼教，追求物欲享乐的家庭伦理。

综上，本文意在说明家庭伦理对人的认知有着不可或缺的影响，这种影响主要体现在人性与欲望发生冲突时所做出的选择，同时人在追求自由享乐时一定不能被欲望蒙蔽了双眼，做出违背纲常伦理的事情。

关键词：《榆树下的欲望》；家庭伦理；资本主义场域

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments i

Abstract ii

摘要 iii

Table of Contents iv

Introduction 1

Eugene O'Neill and Desire under the Elms 1

Bourdieu and the Field Theory 2

Literature Review 3

Thesis Structure 5

Chapter One The Family Ethics in the Puritan Family Field 7

1.1 The Indifferent Conjugal Relationships in the Family Filed 7

1.2 The Distorted Parent-child Relationship in the Family Field 8

Chapter Two Different Self-cognition in the Same Family Field 10

2.1 Eben: Blinded by Material 11

2.2 Abbie: Changed by Love 13

Chapter Three The Struggle between Humanity and Desire 15

3.1 The Victory of Humanity 15

3.2 Eugene O’Neill's Criticism of Society 16

Conclusion 19

Works Cited 21

Introduction

Eugene O'Neill and Desire under the Elms

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) is a famous American playwright, a representative writer of expressionist literature, and also the founder of American national drama. He lived through the most chaotic era in the modern history of the United States. After being expelled from school, he once traveled to South America and Africa, scoured gold, and became a sailor, a small employee. After a year of seafarers, he followed his father to perform in the troupe and finally began his writing career. The critics point out: "Before O'Neill, the United States only had a theater; after O'Neill, the United States had a drama." (Jaeeun 26) He won the Pulitzer Prize four times in his life and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936. His creations have different styles in different periods. In the early days, a series of realistic nautical dramas with the sea as the background or material were written. These early dramas reflected the influence of the popular melodrama at that time. The content is not deep enough to show the level of creation of a good playwright.

In the midterm, his writing gradually matured, creating a series of great realist works such as The Out of the Sky, Anna Christie, Desire under the Elms, Sorrow, in which the characters, characterizations, plots, conflicts, and the theme reflections have reached an unprecedented height. The late stage of O'Neill's creation is also the time when his creative style returns to the original. Compared with the middle period, his tendency to reality is strengthened, but it is not a simple repetition of the early days, but a combination of realism and modernism. There is a deep tragic conflict in the very lively scenes, words, and deeds.

His play Desires under the Elms revolves the farm under the elms tree, portraying the attitude of each person on the farm towards material desires and lust. In the era of a materialistic age, everyone cares about physical pleasure but ignores spiritual deprivation. To seize the farm, Eben tries to get the two brothers to leave, to obtain the inheritance rights of the farm. Abbie marries the older man who is older than herself and then seduces Eben to make herself pregnant. Their pursuits of material wealth are self-evident, but ways are different. In the process of pursuing material desire, Abbie's heart is gradually occupied by love, and she is desperate to kill her children to prove her love for Eben. Every character in Desire under the Elms has what he or she wants — property, gratification or love. Whether it is Eben or Abbie, their behaviors and practices must be related to their own experiences and the environment. In the era of chaos, only enjoyment and wealth can fill the inner emptiness. Eugene O'Neill reveals the characteristics of the age by depicting the characters in real life, which means the tragic characters live a tragic life.

Bourdieu and the Field Theory

Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) was born in a small town in the Bayan region of southwestern France which is located in a rural mountain village with unique dialects and culture. He founded the European Center for Sociology, during which he established his sociological status and style. He eventually became one of the most internationally influenced thought masters in contemporary France, and also a famous philosopher and sociologist. French Prime Minister Lionel said in his eulogy that "Bourdieu is a master of sociology in contemporary France and a great intellectual."(Rodney 16) After he critically rethought Saussure's theoretical proposition, especially after thinking about the culture and language as the opposite of practice and speech, he gave up the plan and began to explore a theory about cultural practice.

Bourdieu's most famous theory is "field theory". Lewin believes that "at a particular time, all the facts that determine individual behavior and psychological activity are an inseparable whole system of subjective factors, objective environment, and subjectivized subjective environment. Lewin has successfully introduced the field theory into the social sciences, but because the research object is mainly psychological, there is still a lack of universality." (Michelle 123) Then the field theory is thoroughly universalized and established as a meta-theory to which the French sociologist Bourdieu makes a great contribution. Bourdieu believes that science only recognizes the system of rules and that only in the relational system can concepts gain their meaning. He tried to use the field to achieve "thinking from a relationship perspective."(Liu 122)

In the analytical sense, a field can be defined as a network or configuration of objective relationships between locations. In terms of the existence of these locations and the limitations imposed on their occupiers (whether actors or institutions), these locations are objectively represented by their distribution structure in different types of power (or capital) or the potential situation and their objective relationship with other locations (dominance, obedience, similar, etc.), and power or capital means that the specific profit of the field can be obtained. When a particular field is used, it is generally analyzed from the habits of the actors in the field to determine the identity and status of the actors in the process of interacting with others. In a particular field, the party that masters and rules are the owners of power, and at the same time as the owner of power, he gains the corresponding advantages, called capital. (Michelle 115)

In Desire under the Elms, O'Neill tells a story of love and hate between family members, which is in a family field. In this field, it is clear that Cabot is the head of the family, a symbol of wealth and status. He is the owner of power, so he can find a young and beautiful wife like Abbie although he is old. Abbie and Eben are both rule-obeyers. They all crave wealth and betray Cabot. They challenge the rules of power and game, but they eventually become captives of the rules. So that the relationship of self-cognition and family field can be clearly found. Through this family, the epitome of the entire American society and the strong desire for material can be seen. From a big perspective, this is the epitome of the capitalist field. Therefore, this paper will analyze the representatives in the family field Abbie, Eben and Cabot, and then dig more from the relationship between the capitalists and the oppressed in the field of American social capitalism.

Literature Review

Desire under the Elms is considered to be the most famous creation of Eugene O'Neill's tragedy. This drama depicts a tragic story between a father and son and a stepmother in a New England farm in the northeastern United States in 1850. It is a deep tragedy of lust that is rooted in material desire. The play interweaves human material desires and emotional desires, presenting “a wonderful game of irrational desires and love between characters.” (Wang 206) The tragic root of this deep and heavy work is not the desire itself, but the loss of control of the character's desires. It is the irrational desire that makes the characters go to extremes, causing the tragic ending of incest and infanticide. It calls for modern rationality, morality, and order through the expression of uncontrollable desires, showing the inner needs of human beings for life and the desire for good emotions. In the past, scholars analyzed the themes involved in Eugene O'Neill from the perspectives of desire, ethics, tragedy, and infanticide.

Many scholars from home and abroad have also studied the Desire under the Elms from different perspectives. For example, Xu Xiaoni's From the Self to the Other: The Venus-style Interpretation of the Desire Under the Elms, analyzes that there are very few opportunities for female to gain recognition and happiness in the patriarchal society as the other in the society from the perspective of the self and the other in order to illustrate the difficulties and challenges of "women's self-identification". (47) Also, Li Juan analyzes the Desire under the Elms from the perspective of collective unconsciousness and discusses the manifestation of the collective unconsciousness in the play. (127) There is also the scholar called Lu Hongle whose Disillusionment and Rebirth in Desire under the Elms reveals the selfishness and ugliness of the human nature, the evil of money, and the inability to lose self in the face of money, but at the end of the article the reflection of men and women highlights the brilliance and greatness of love. (45) Love can overcome the defects in human nature, and it is love that gives Eben and Abbie the ultimate redemption. Of course, the feminism of Desire under the Elms is also a topic that is often discussed.

For instance, Wang Qiufen's On O'Neill's Feminist Ecology Desire under the Elms as an example reveals the serious consequences of neglecting the status of women and nature at that time and the concept of equivalence between women and nature in the patriarchal center culture. (21) The natural feminization and the concept of female naturalization and the phenomenon of female "aphasia" (Sun and Chen 44) are criticized. Only human beings can overcome self-centered consciousness, treat nature and women equally, and recognize the equality and complementarity between men and women and the mutual coexistence between man and nature so that relationships can achieve harmonious coexistence between men and women, and between humans and nature. Besides, many foreign scholars have explored this play from different angles. As a famous tragic work, many foreign scholars have also interpreted and studied the Desire under the Elms. Dr. Tanu Gupta focuses on the origins of Abbie's infanticide behavior in Inheritance and Infanticide in Eugene O'Neill's Desire under the Elms. It is Abbie’s desire that led to her baby-killing behavior, but this is also her The pursuit of true love is a rebirth to oneself. (201) Also, Arnold Gordenstein in A Few Thousand Battered Books: Eugene O'Neill's Use of Myth in Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra focuses on the use of Eugene O'Neill's myths in these two plays, and the basis of their expression the importance of self-will. (16)

Although many scholars have studied this play Desire under the Elms from different aspects, no scholars using the field theory in environment and rituals of the influence of personality and consciousness to analyze the play and to discuss the two protagonists in the pursuit of material and passion in the process of make different choices, so as to explore O'Neill's sympathy for Eben and Abbie and critics to the materialistic flood in capitalist society.

Thesis Structure

In light of what is stated above, this paper will focus on family ethics in the family field in the play Desire Under the Elms through the field theory of Pierre Bourdieu. Here the family field is one of the fields in society, and different members in the field will be affected by the interactions and connections with each other. What kind of people they become is determined by their self-cognition, which is also influenced by family ethics in the family field. In the end, what the family ethics is and effects it brings to the society can be revealed clearly in the capitalist field.

Three main chapters will be devoted respectively to the family field and family ethics in the Puritan family, Eben’s and Abbie’s self-cognition and also O'Neill’s criticism on capital society. The first chapter discusses the relationship between the family field and family ethics and then extends to the effects brought by family ethics in the Puritan family field. Acquisitiveness and greed are not only the ethical principles of the family but also the causes of the family tragedy. The second chapter analyzes the relationship between family ethics and self-cognition, and the reasons why Eben and Abbie have different choices and pursuits of cognition. Although they are in the same family field and affected by his family ethics, at the end of the story, Eben is still keen on the farm and ignores Abbie's love of him. On the contrary, Abbie kills her child to prove her love of Eben, and she realizes what is more important to her. The last chapter focuses on the different choices of the two protagonists, in which O’Neill’s irony, his sympathy and understanding of tragic characters, and also his criticism on the family ethics can be seen which is filled with the enjoyment of material in the capitalist field. Through the critical analysis of Desire Under the Elms, the conclusion is that in the capitalist field, it is easy for people to be affected by family ethics which values desire and material more, but the moral bottom line can not be ignored while pursuing pleasure and enjoyment.

Chapter One The Family Ethics in the Puritan Family Field

Social relations are different in different fields, so the relationship between family members constitutes a small unit of the relationship network, called the family field. In the family field, the interaction and connection between family members affect the acquisition of each family member's self-identity. Generally speaking, it is the leader who "dominates family relationship that has the absolute advantage in the family field". (Gareth 24) Family ethics, as an important part of the family field, has a great influence on family members' ideology and self-cognition. And conjugal relationship and parent-child relationship constitute the most basic relationship in family ethics.

1.1 The Indifferent Conjugal Relationships in the Family Filed

Desire under the Elms is set in the 1850s among the average New England peasant family. Cabot comes to New England as a young man and becomes a wealthy farmer. His farm is taken from his wife who died of overwork. In ordinary families, couples cherish and respect each other. But in this family, Cabot regards his wives as slaves that should work for him. When he reaches old age, he still has a strong desire to occupy the farm and would rather burn the farm to death than leave the property to others. The old Cabot is the representative of the common Puritan spirit in America. He is abided by the Puritan principle and regards material desire as the important meaning of life. "The whole estate is mine," (Stinnett 24). He is not sorry for his wife's death even though he married a young and beautiful wife. And his first two wives both die of hardworking and at the end of their life, what leaves in their heart for Cabot is not love but hate, which is passed to their sons. As for Abbie, she comes to the farm with Cabot because she needs a home and she wants to take the farm as her own. To fight for the farm, Abbie even wants a son who can inherit all the property of Cabot, and she eagerly asks Cabot, "Will you give me the farm —our son?" This reveals Abbie's real purpose of giving birth to a son. As a wife, Abbie does not help her husband with the farm, and never even tries to understand Cabot. For her, Cabot is only a way to get a place, to satisfy her desire for a home and a possession in essence. Acquisitiveness and greed determine not only the couple's life but also the ethical principles that hold the family together. Cabot believes that any family members should give up the possession of the property to maintain normal family order.

In this puritan family, Cabot has the most powerful capital and his wives are just tools to manage the farm. And his wives hate him more than love, especially Abbie who wants to get the farm at all costs. So the relationship between husband and wife is indifferent even deviant.

1.2 The Distorted Parent-child Relationship in the Family Field

Cabot and Eben, who have a blood relationship between father and son, should love each other. However, Cabot and Eben do not follow their respective ethical identities and make a wrong ethical choice. Cabot has built the farm and has suffered so much that he regards it as his own and can not allow it to be taken away. When all three of his sons take a fancy to the estate, he is very sad. For this farm, he must strive to live, so that this farm is always in his control. Cabot's three sons have lost their father's love, and their purpose is to take his farm, his crops, and his livestock. Cabot is transformed from a father to an exploiter, and there is no father-son connection. Eben also has an innate ethical identity, that is, the father-son ethical relationship with Cabot. He disrespects his father and denies the ethical relationship with Cabot. When Peter says that Cabot is the father of the three of them, Eben shouts roughly, "not mine!" Besides that, Eben also wishes he die early because he coveted his father's farm, which is obvious patricide consciousness.

Puritanism seeped into the character of the normal American peasant, whose family ethic was founded on a "rock" of greed for wealth. The existence of this ethical consciousness and principle caused the hatred between family members, "... completely tore off the tender veil over the family relationship and turned the relationship into a pure money relationship". (26) The unlimited release of wealth desire and passion misled the behavior of all family members, losing the normal ethical emotions that should be possessed between husband and wife, father and son, and brothers. Simon and Peter hope that his father would go to hell because of his possession of the property. Eben is hostile to his father because of his father's possession of the farm, which is gained from his mother. Acquisitiveness and greed are not only the ethical principles of the family but also become the cause of the family tragedy.

In this family field, the spirit of each family member is affected by different degrees. They must abide by the principles of family ethics in this field. Cabot has the most capital in the family, and he becomes the leader of the field, mastering the rules of the game. His typical Puritan thoughts generate the suppression of desire and obedience to the rules in the family field. At the same time, Cabot's acquisitiveness and greed for material things form the family ethics in the family field. However, under the oppression of such rules and the influence of ethical consciousness for a long time, other members of the field will have the idea of resistance and thus make a series of reactions that do not conform to the rules and regulations. These reactions are exactly the reflection of their habitual changes so that they can obtain different identities.

Chapter Two Different Self-cognition in the Same Family Field

People's cognition is composed of many parts, among which self-cognition is one of the most important parts. It seems to be a philosophical question who I am, but in real life, it is a question of identity. People have different identities in different places. For example, a person is a teacher in school, but at home, he is a father. These different identities can exist in one person at the same time, which is also the reflection of social consensus in one person. There are two ways to acquire self-cognition, one of which is social transmission and the other is self-experience (Sun 74). This shows that self-cognition is inevitably affected by the environment. From a deeper perspective, it is involved in the field theory in which the structure and characteristics of the field will affect people's cognition and behavior.

Family ethics is an important part of the family field, in which the interaction and behavior norms between family members are guided by family ethics. Family ethics plays a key role in people's self-cognition. For example, children in a harmonious family will be more optimistic, while children in a violent family will become self-abashed and sensitive, this kind of ethical differences affect family members' self-identity cognition. It is mainly reflected in the relationships between family members, one of which is the relationship between the sexes and the other is the relationship of nurturing. Of course, there are brothers and sisters in this auxiliary relationship. Eben’s parents’ way of getting along with each other and his unmarried experience make his cognition of the sexual relationship stay on the original physiological needs so that he does not know how to love. Abbie gets married once although it is not perfect, which makes her realize the cognition and understanding of the relationship. She knows what kind of relationship can give herself a sense of security. In terms of the blood relationship between the father and Eben, it is more like animal feeding than raising. The terrible humanity is reflected in family ethics, and it is not hard to imagine how cold and heartless the family field is. Under the influence of family ethics, Eben and Abbie have different self-cognition.

2.1 Eben: Blinded by Material

Eben, the protagonist of Desire under the Elms, has no secret of his desire for the farm. He tries to make his two brothers take the initiative to give up the inheritance of the farm. Moreover, in the emotional entanglements of Abbie, he thinks she is just robbing the farm of him and does not love him at all. What is needed to figure out is where this obsession of Eben comes from. The first reason comes to the living environment of Eben. Eben, as the son of a farmer, has never enjoyed the pleasure of his father's love. And he never gets rid of the control of his father. Long-term depression and the desire of the farm grows with time in his heart. Unlike his brothers, who had a passion for gold, the only thing he wanted was a farm. On the one hand, he owns the farm which represents wealth and freedom. On the other hand, Eben is a cowardly person who dare not take risks. His dependence on the farm and reluctance to give up make him want to possess the farm more. The second is the impact of the overall social environment. American society was in the era of chaos, which was full of materialism and hedonism and when people's spiritual world was as desolated as the desert. Only wealth could give them a sense of security. In this capitalist field, Eben would inevitably be affected. Since wealth is something everyone is pursuing, it is more appropriate to own the farm. Affection and love cannot replace the status of the material in people's hearts. Eben’s obsession with material was influenced by both living environment and social environment. This is also the change of field involved in the field theory, which changes people's cognition and behavior. If Eben’s father could give him love and care and provided him with a free and loving family, Eben would not be so paranoid as to completely ignore feelings in the pursuit of material desire.

As is known to us all, mothers play an indispensable role in the growth of children, and children's behavior and character are largely influenced by family education. If a child lives in a family full of love, then his personality will be more lively and cheerful. On the contrary, if the child lives in a parents-quarrel constantly family, the child will become sensitive and suspicious. Their father, the mean Puritan, never see anything but his farm. His wife and the next generation are worthless to him.

PETER. [with sardonic bitterness] Here-- its stones atop o' the ground--stones atop o' stones--makin'stone walls--year atop o' year--him 'n' yew 'n' me 'n' then Eben--makin' stone walls fur him to fence us in!

SIMEON. We've wuked. Give our strength. Give our years. Plowed 'em under in the ground [he stamps rebelliously] rottin'--makin' soil for his crops! [a pause] Waal--the farm pays good for hereabouts. (Desire under the Elms，act 1)

In the eyes of his son, old Cabot is a vampire rather than a father. He is, indeed, more a mean slave owner than a father. At the same time, in Eben’s eyes, the old Cabot is an enemy of this mother, who enslaved the mother and torture her to death. She means a lot to Eben.

EBEN. [intensely]I'm Maw--every drop o' blood! [A pause. They stare at him with indifferent curiosity.

PETER. [reminiscently] She was good t' Sim 'n' me. A good Step-maw's curse.

SIMEON. She was good t' everyone.

EBEN. [greatly moved, gets to his feet and makes an awkward bow to each of them—stammering] I be thankful t' ye. I'm her--her heir. [He sits down in confusion.] (Desire under the Elms, act 1)

He has a good mother but she does not enjoy life with her son for a long time. Due to the absence of maternal love and paternal love, Eben is bound to lack a sense of security, and long-term repression also leads to its paranoia and cowardice. Eben's obsession with the farm comes partly from his mother, who wants him to take it back before she died, partly for himself and partly for her. Influenced by his mother, Eben believes that the farm belongs to him, so he is even more unwilling to be oppressed and overworked. If the mother could persuade Eben to live a good life, and not too rigid in the material, his pursuit of material desire in the process would not be so paranoid, which results in distrust of true love. The affection and the way of getting along between mother and father also influence Eben's attitude towards Abbie. The affection between the parents who depended on the farm make him doubt the purity of love. The death of his mother has a great impact on Eben's self-cognition. His occupation of the farm reaches the point of paranoia. He does not yearn for the gold in California but believes in the solid land under his feet.

2.2 Abbie: Changed by Love

In a male society, women are omitted and marginalized. Cabot's first two wives: anonymous, toiling for the farm all their lives but getting nothing in return. However, Abbie's appearance was remarkable at the start of the play. Considering O’Neill’s description of her face and body "young, 35, with a pretty face but "a bit of a coquet". She is a "plump" and "full of life" beautiful woman, " There was a ferocity, a ferocity, desperation about him. The author uses a lot of vivid expressions: " strong" "stubborn” “determined, no retreat” “wild and desperate”. (Raleigh 46) This woman puts a profound and intuitive impression on the readers: this is not a normal woman, because the woman is not to be able to roll with the punches; It is impossible to expect her to become a woman who fully dedicates herself to the farm and the family. When Abbie arrived at the farm, she was fascinated by it.

ABBIE. [with lust for the word] Hum! [her eyes gloating on the house without seeming to see the two stiff figures at the gate] It's purty--purty! I can't b'lieve it's r'ally mine.

ABBIE. [her voice taking possession] A woman's got t' have a hum! (Desire under the Elms，act 1)

When Cabot tells her "a home needs a woman," she retorts a woman needs a home. Her desire to possess the farm was always in her words. Abbie has heard the old man's hope in Cabot’s words: “My wife is not me. My son is me -- my flesh and blood -- mine. What is mine shall be left to my posterity, and when it is left to them, it shall remain mine -- even if I am six feet under the earth.” (Raleigh 67) When Abbie realizes this, she tempts Cabot with a son, "Will you give me - our son - the grange then?" Abbie seduces Cabot like the devil seduced Faust, holding the sweet-smelling bone of the "son," and prompting Cabot to make a promise. Traditional women do not have the guts to do that. After hearing that old Cabot would not leave the farm to his wife, or his three sons, even if he wanted to burn it down, Abbie's heart is so disappointed. It may be said that what Abbie wants before she enters old Cabot's farm might be nothing more than a home of her own, a place to rest, and a hope for the time being. However, when Abbie arrives at this place, she does not feel the warmth and safety of home. She lives in a kind of instability all the time, even though she is married and moved into the so-called house. How could she guarantee that she could still have this life after Cabot's death? Cabot is too old so her eyes are attracted by Eben's youth and strength, and Eben's instinct gives her love and farm. What she wants seems to be a farm, but she just wants a home and a peaceful life.

However, in the time spent with Eben, Abbie's pursuit of material desire turns into her devotion to lust and then falls in love with each other eventually. But the distrust in their love raising from their struggle for farm led to the tragedy of the infanticide. Abbie suddenly finds that there is a more important thing that the farm in life, that is true love in the process of desperately pursuing possession of the farm. To prove that she loves Eben more than her son, she gives up the farm and kills the newborn baby. Finally, the infanticide is cruel which is out of love. Although this sense, what Abbie kills is the desire for material in her heart. It is a great triumph of love, compared with her first great desire to possess the farm. At this time, Abbie has no longer focused on the farm but turned to a higher emotional world by a secular woman metamorphosis into an emotional lover. She kills her child for the price of the love of Eben, which can be said to be the baptism of love, washing away the original greed and vulgar inside her.

Chapter Three The Struggle between Humanity and Desire

In a capitalist society, people value capital, and the difference in capital leads to class differentiation. In this case, the more capital people have, the greater their social status and power will be. The people without capital can only be exploited, the people at the bottom are "eager for wealth to turn over" (Wendy 624), the people at the top are eager for more wealth, and the whole society is filled with materialism. People become greedy, indifferent, and ignore the warmth of feelings, and personality begins to distort and paranoid. The social atmosphere of hedonism makes people get rid of the shackles of traditional ethics.

3.1 The Victory of Humanity

Although Eben has a strong desire to get the farm, he never resists his father, which reveals his cowardice in personality. For Eben, his father is not a father, on the contrary, his father is more like an authority, controlling his freedom. He has no choice but to inherit the farm, such as telling his father that he does not want to work or be exploited. Eben is certainly stronger than his father in age and energy, but long years of repression and hard work have rendered him psychologically subservient to his father. Abbie, on the other hand, is even braver, daring to pursue a new life. To have a stable life, she marries to a farmer older than herself. And to get the farm, she seduces Eben to make herself pregnant. In the emotional entanglement of Eben and Abbie, Eben is more rational and values gain and loss, while Abbie is more emotional and values love. In Eben’s heart, nothing is more important than the farm, which is his freedom and wealth. Abbie proves her true love for Eben with killing their children. In her opinion，wealth lost its allure for her.

The biggest difference between Eben and Abbie is the difference between men and women. The influence of gender on a person is huge. There are not only natural physiological differences but also the influence of the acquired environment on the formation of personality. Eben and Abbie are in the same family environment, but there are great differences in personality, so the gender factor cannot be ignored. In society, people no longer paid attention to the shackles of traditional ethics but focuses on liberating their nature. In a society full of materialism, Eben and Abbie also have a strong desire for the material. However, Abbie pursues wealth by marrying old Cabot. She has no other advantages except youth and beauty. In a capitalist society, men are more eager for power and material pursuit, so old Cabot is so strict with his wife and children, making them work all the time, to expand his farm and maintain his capital and wealth.

In the society where capital is power, old Cabot controls Eben’s freedom. In this repressive environment, Eben has to give in and becomes afraid to resist. Sexual liberation can satisfy people physiological demands more. For Abbie, she would have nothing at all. In society, women rely on men to acquire wealth with beauty.

Eben's rational thinking and Abbie's passion for love are caused by different emotional needs. Eben has never felt the warmth of his family. His father is an exploiter to him, and his brothers are looters of his farm. The harshness and ruthlessness of his father towards his mother also make him feel cold and bitter. He can not feel the beauty of love and affection. For him, only the farm and the land are important and could bring him happiness. As for Abbie, Eben cannot love her. He can not feel Abbie's love and respond to it. Abbie is eager to have a home because love can bring her warmth and security, which is more valuable than wealth, so she falls in love with Eben. The inheritance of the farm is no longer important, as long as Eben can love her enough. In society, “men are more rational than women, women are more emotional and have less desire for wealth and power”. (Fu 154) When a society is dominated by men in power, women will have a lower status than men, so their access to wealth and power will be narrower, and their emotional needs will be higher.

3.2 Eugene O’Neill's Criticism of Society

O’Neill believes that "Life is a tragedy, a tragedy of desires." (Chen 75) Desire under the Elms is designed for people's material desire for wealth, which also leads to the tragedy of lust. The first world war destroyed the faith of man, who was in a "strange, convulsive civilization, full of confusion, confusion, and struggle." (Raleigh 77) The disillusionment of belief makes people worship money and material more. Nietzsche used the phrase "God is dead"(Wang 207) to describe a time when belief was lacking and materialism was rampant. Desire under the Elms reproduces people's worship of money in the absence of faith, and profoundly reveals people's life under the domination of material desire, lust and various desires. Although in the story, love finally overcomes the material desire, so that the story has been sublimated. However, whether it is a spiritual desire or material desire, it is still desired. Similarly, in the Great Gatsby, Gatsby has a strong desire to own Daisy, and it is this desire that pulls him step by step into the abyss of self-destruction. Human beings are struggling in the world of desire, and the tragedy caused by the blind pursuit of desire is constantly unfolding. People are complex animals. People in society will become more complex under the influence of various environments. Each person's pursuit is different, but there are basic desires, both physical and psychological desires need satisfaction to a certain degree. It is undeniable that there are always some people in the world who are indifferent to feelings and materials. However, living in a society full of materialism, people are bound to be affected. In Desire under the Elms, the hero and heroine are desperate for material possessions to the point of paranoia. On the surface, people want greater wealth because of pleasure and power, but on a deeper level, what they need is freedom and security. From Eben and Abbie, their vanity, cunning, and indifference can be seen as well as their weakness and pain. People in the society are in different circles, where some people may never have the intersection in their life, and the environment they grow up in and the things they experience are naturally different. Social environment, family environment and so on have almost a decisive influence on a person's cognition and personality. Eben and Abbie are born with an obsession with material things. Eben wants affection from family but suffers oppression and harsh. Abbie wants a sense of security but suffers from a broken family and pain. They are not born to be wicked, who just yield to society and indulges themselves. In society at that time, everyone is addicted to the material. And when one has wealth, one has power and capital. Eben and Abbie are the people at the bottom of society, who are more eager for wealth. Eugene O’Neill is sympathetic to the hero and heroine. The environment has a great influence on human nature. It can make people become good or lose themselves. O’Neill embarks from reality and criticizes the entire social ethos. Material desire makes people indulge themselves and lose the ability to love and be loved. What grants people a sense of security is not a material desire, but wealth and power. The social atmosphere makes people abandon the good part of human nature and indulge in material and sexual love, which spreads to everyone in the society like poison. O’Neill criticizes the real society through Desire under the Elms, hoping that everyone can pursue real freedom and morality.

Conclusion

Eugene O’Neill's Desire under the Elms is a world-famous tragic work. Different research directions lead to different interpretations of O’Neill's works. This paper focuses on analyzing the impact of family ethics on cognition and behavior of the characters through the field theory to know O’Neill's intention of this writing. When creating this work, Eugene O’Neill's writing style tends to be realistic. Through the depiction of the characters, their differences and similarities in cognition and personality can be seen clearly. Farmer Cabot regards his farm and land as his private property, which is even more important than his children. Eben wants to take back the farm and try to get the right to farm inheritance, who hates his father; Abbie, a beautiful woman with miserable fate, tries to grab ownership of the farm. To understand a person, his cognition and behavior should be paid attention to first. Through the field theory, the environment has a huge impact on a person, and the consideration of field factors is the premise of understanding a person.

Starting from the field theory, this paper focuses on the analysis of Eben and Abbie's attitude towards material desire and lust. They are greedy and cunning people whose desire for the material is obvious and straight. Due to the influence of his childhood environment, Eben hardly feels the warmth of his family. Strictly speaking, he cannot love others. Abbie has been married, and as a woman, she is so eager to love that she gives up the pursuit of the farm. Through comparison, the inner needs of Eben and Abbie can be understood. The dark side in their human nature is inspired by social capital. In the social environment full of materialism and hedonism, they cannot be immune. When describing characters, O'Neill pays attention to the description of life scenes and presents various things on the farm through language and behavior. What is O'Neill's intention in this tragedy? Everyone has his idea, but what is important is how to interpret it. The farm reflects the characters of the whole social environment. Through analysis, what O 'Neill wants to show is not the greed of Eben and Abbie but his sympathy towards them. They are the tiny people who are oppressed at the bottom. The real culprit is the whole society. Social morality is the object of O'Neill's criticism. The society is a large field, and there are many small fields in it. If all fields of society are occupied by hedonism, no one could keep away from the influence of it. However, the moral line should never be broken.

Works Cited

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