The Harry Ape

 The Harry Ape

The Hairy Ape, written in eight short, abrupt scenes, is an expressionistic Tragicomedy of modern industrial unrest. The protagonist of play is a mighty stoker called

'Yank' and we see him first , stripped to the waist, with the rest of his half necked

companions in their stoke hole. He can out course, out fight, out feel them all and he is proud of his job a stoker at the heart of the ship.

We next see the ultra-sophisticated Mildred Douglas, the daughter of the owner of the liner, lolling on the deck and pining for the sensation of going down into the stock hole to see how the other half lives. The play gives a realistic picture of contemporary American Society. It is a world where rich become richer and poor become poorer. On the one hand, there are the rich represented by Mildred Douglas and her aunt. On theother hand the poor are represented by Yank and the other stokers, who sweat and work hard, and who are exploited and insulted for their toil, trouble and tiredness. The curtain parts and out of the darkness gleam the rims of the boiler-doors. A bell clangs the door, swing open, a terrific red glare leaps out at the audience, and Yank and his mates heave in the coal. The bell clangs again, too soon, and Yank is cursing the engineer with terrific violence, when he turns to see the girl beside him. She almost faints at the sight of him cries out that he is a beast. Yank hurls his shovel after her with a horrid oath.

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Another change that is noticeable in the stoke-hole to see Yank completely upset by the incident, brooding over the depths of social difference revealed to him, burning with hatred, rage and revenge. He is no longer, steel, coal, speed, because hi is no longer sure of himself. To make sure of himself, he must go out on a mission of revenge. We see him next on Fifth Avenue. The passers by are strange unreal people. He makes no more impression on them than if they  were fart of dreams; all that happens is that a police-man beats him up and arrests him. Then we see him in a prison cell on Islands. Out of the darkness come the snarls and oaths and horrid howls of other prisoners. One prisoner reads from the New York Times an attack on the Industrial Workers of the World as a menace of civilization. The Hairy Ape resolves to join the I.W.W. When we next observe him, he is trying to join the society and he may plant a dynamo beneath the steel magnet's home, but is thrown out as an agent provocateur.

Finally, in his puzzled despair, he reaches the gorilla's cage in the zoo. Ah, a brother, the real Hairy Ape! He lets the gorilla loose, to go with him on a pilgrimage of destruction. But the gorilla silently seizes him in a deadly embrace and tosses him into the cage, where he dies behind the bars. Commenting on the play Clifford Leech writes;

“The Hairy Ape is a comedy of Ancient and modern life.”2 Expressionism is a term first used by painter Julian Auguste Harve in 1901, while trying to distinguish his paintings from Impressionism. Expressionist movement in art was initiated in Germany in early 20th century under the influence of Swedish Playwright

Strindberg. It was at it's height between 1910-1925, just before, during and after the

World War-I. Expressionism endeavored to express as intensely as possible. The author usually bitterly reacts to the world around him. Expressionistic writers are not optimistic due to their bitter experience in their art and literature. Expressionism art often depersonalizes and dehumanizes it's subject to convey the shock of unfortunately being alive in the cruel modern world. Instead of presenting the world as it is, an expressionist presents the world as it appears to his mind or to his literary character.  M.H.Abram remarks that:

The central feature of Expressionism is a radical revolt

against realism. Instead of representing the world as it objectively, the author undertakes to express inner experience by representing the world as it appears to his state of mind. Often the work implies that mental condition is representative of anxiety-ridden modern man in an industrial and technological society which is drifting toward chaos. (AGOLT) 3

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It is a radical revolt against the artistic and literary tradition of realism. The Expressionistic playwright undertakes to express a personal vision of human life and society. Drama was a prominent and widely influential form of expressionistic writing. Expressionism, the name itself suggests that the writer does not use more action on the stage but he uses minimum dialogues, and minimum characters to express his inner bent of mind. The action is less important but he believes in the expression in the expression of the characters. It is a dramatic technique which enables a playwright to depict the inner psyche or inner reality of a character. Basically, it is a very difficult task to portray someone's inner mind but through deft use of expressionism one can perform the task very meticulously. Instead of dramatic sequence of events, expressionists concentrate on portraying the inner mind are how it works. The prominent playwrights of Expressionism are George Kaiser (Gas, from Mourn to Midnight), Ernest Toller(Mass, Man) and in his earlier production of Bertolt Brecht, Eugene O'Neill and Elmer

Rice.

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