Chapter one

A Freudian Reading of O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon

While reading Beyond the Horizon by O'Neill, one cannot but remember W. B.

Yeats saying "a struggle that has no mending, one woman and two men." This sentence

can be considered a summary of one of the earliest plays that established O'Neill's

undying fame. In presenting near-to-real characters, O'Neill provided psychoanalysis

with rich materials in an attempt to better understanding of the human psyche, behavior

and inner working of the mind. In Beyond the Horizon, Eugene O’Neill reveals that

dreams are necessary to sustain life. Through the use of the characters of Robert Mayo,

Andrew Mayo and Ruth, O’Neill proves that without dreams, man could not exist. Each

of his characters are dependent on their dreams, as they feed their destiny. When they

deny their dreams, they deny their destiny, altering their lives forever. O’Neill also

points out, that following your dreams, brings you true happiness, something none of

his characters experience.

The play is structured in an artistic way. It consists of three acts, two scenes

each. This gives the impression that O'Neill made it a journey-like into the deep psyche

of his characters. The first scene is indoor indicating trapping, prisoning and frustration.

The second scene is in the open landscape giving the impression of freedom and

dreams. This notion is made clear in the first act; in the first scene, every character

obeys his/her own nature, nothing is outside the book. This is the conscious, clear,

rational part of each character. In the second scene, each character fights their own

natures pushed by a specific derive emerged from the unconscious; the thing which

leads them to their tragic end. O'Neill rebuffed the influence of the Freudian theory on

the human psyche on the structure of his play. He claimed that his play is as naturally
structured as possible. In a replay to an inquiry on Freudianism in his plays, O'Neill

wrote:

"There is no conscious use of psychoanalytical material in any of my plays. All

of them could easily have been written by a dramatist who had never heard of

the Freudian theory and was simply guided by an intuitive psychological insight

into human beings and their life impulsions that is as old as Greek drama"

(Goyal 95).

Approaching the play from psychoanalytic lens, it is clear that it is comprised

of individual human beings, each with a psychological history that begins in childhood

experiences in the family and each with a pattern of adolescent and adult behavior that

are the direct result of that early experience, and by examining each character's early

childhood, we can frame an understandable result of their current actions and their own

true nature. The use of the word nature in this context is equivalent to the term

unconscious. Robert Mayo is the main protagonist of the play. Due to his in-door

uprising because of his illness, the unconscious of his is composed in a way that suits

his childhood experience. His dreams of traveling to far, strange, exotic places is a

direct result of the lack of freedom he suffered during his early childhood. On the other

hand, Andrew, his brother, is a true child of the soil; born and raised to work in the

land. He is as described by Robert "you are the Mayo branch of the family"(Horizon

5). Although brothers, Andrew is the direct opposite of Robert. Andrew is husky, sun-

bronzed, handsome in a large manly-featured fashion, a son of the soil. Ruth Atkins is

the turning point of the play; she is the element that pushes the play forward and changes

the lives of the two Mayos. She lives in a neighboring farm of the Mayo's, an out-door

girl in her twenties with an undeniably pretty face. What we know about Ruth's

childhood is that she lived her early childhood as an orphan raised by her mother. This
lack of an affectionate father derived her to the compassionate Robert instead of the

manly-featured Andrew. However, after a period of time, Ruth started to recognize her

love to Andy following her own nature as a materialistic girl altering the fate of the two

brothers forever.

All the main characters, Robert, Andrew, and Ruth, make destructive decisions

due to their psychic structure, childhood, and uprising. Robert Mayo is a dreamy young

man always looking to the great beyond wondering what is out there. He is charmed

with the unknown and the unseen. He always wonders about the "mysteries of the East".

This trail in his personality is due to, indeed, his early childhood as an indoor-child

because of his sickness. The consciousness of Robert is formed in a way pushing him

to travel as far as possible to make up the lack of freedom he suffered during his

childhood. The unconscious, however, is formed in a different way. He was forced to

stay home leaving behind a great opportunity to travel for a reason he does not seem to

understand.

Robert's desire to travel expressed at the begging of the play is not at all a

materialistic one. Indeed, his main goal is not collecting money; his desire to travel is

to compensate a lack in his character. He is following his own nature by doing so. The

clearest indication of Robert's reason for travel is stated when Robert tells Andrew that

"I've never considered that practical side of it for a minute, Andy" (Horizon 6). The first

time we meet Robert, he is engaged in day dreaming, waiting the next day to ride the

sea and achieve success, in his own sense of the word, to experience the feeling of

fulfilment.

The essential derive of the play is the sibling rivalry occurring between the two

poles Robert and Andrew. The thing that makes it difficult to analyze is that the relation

between the two brothers is an extraordinary, in a positive sense, way. "They ain't like
most brothers. They've been thick as thieves all their lives, with nary a quarrel I kin

remember" (Horizon 15). Declared Mr. Mayo at the beginning of the play. To solve

this puzzle we need to consider a fundamental principle in psychoanalysis: you cannot

get what you consciously want, but you get what you unconsciously need. The notion

that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of

which they are unaware—that is, unconscious—was one of Sigmund Freud’s most

radical insights, and it still governs classical psychoanalysis today.

“Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among siblings for the

attention of the parents” (Tyson 14). It is one of the familial complexes that Freud

discussed. In this case, Robert and Andrew are in a conflict zone unconsciously. Both

of them are not aware of the motives behind their actions. On the conscious level, they

both believe that they have a special relation between them; however, their actions

reflect the opposite because they are under direct control of the unconscious. Robert

wants to get rid of the picture that his family drew to him. He wants to deride the picture

of the sick child he was. The effect of this idea seems clear in the following conversation

between Robert and Andrew.

"Robert: All of you seem to keep harping on my health. You were so used to

seeing me lying around the house in the old days that you never will get over

the notion that I'm a chronic invalid, and have to be looked after like a baby all

the time, or wheeled round in a chair like Mrs. Atkins. You don't realize how

I've bucked up in the past few years" (Horizon 15).

Robert unveils his love to Ruth, though he was well aware that his brother is in

love with her, in an attempt to gain the attention of his parents. After declaring that he

is going to marry Ruth, his parents were overjoyed with the news. In this case, we see
the Id at work in Robert. “The id is devoted solely to the gratification of prohibited

desires of all kinds—desire for power, for sex, for amusement, for food—without an

eye to consequences” (Tyson 25). In other words, the id consists largely of those desires

regulated or forbidden by social convention. Robert acted out of the Id ignoring the

consequences of his action on his brother Andrew, Ruth, his whole family, and

especially on himself. He reacted to a sexual urge which the ego decided to accede.

Upon hearing about the new relationship between Robert and Ruth, Andrew reacted to

the news by telling everyone that he decided to travel with Dick Scott, the captain of

the ship, instead of Robert. The motive behind this decision is due to two defense

mechanisms: denial and displacement. The psyche of Andrew instantly operates what

is known as displacement. “Displacement is the shifting of actions from a desired target

to a substitute target when there is some reason why the first target is not permitted or

not available. Displacement may involve retaining the action and simply shifting the

target of that action. Where this is not feasible, the action itself may also change. Where

possible the second target will resemble the original target in some way”

(Displacement). Andrew is offended by his brother; however, he redirected his anger

not to his brother nor his family, although he had a bitter fight with his father, but to his

own self. Andrew chooses to go against his own self and nature accepting to travel

against his wish instead of staying home seeing Robert and Ruth together. The second

mechanism operating in this case is known as denial. Denial “is a defense mechanism

in which the existence of unpleasant internal or external realities is denied and kept out

of conscious awareness. By keeping the stressors out of consciousness, they are

prevented from causing anxiety” (Denial). After hearing the news, Andrew reacted as

normally as possible denying any injury. He didn’t shout, cry nor fight with anyone. He

acted as if what happened was meant to be. "[Evasively.] I've always wanted to go, even
if I ain't said anything about it" (Horizon 20). Declared Andrew desperately. James

Mayo, Robert's and Andrew's father, noticed that Andrew is not aware of what he is

doing. James knew that his son is running against his own nature.

"James MAYO—[Shaking his finger at ANDY, in a cold rage.] You know I'm

speakin' truth—that's why you're afraid to argy! You lie when you say you want

to go 'way—and see things! You ain't got no likin' in the world to go. Your place

is right here on this farm—the place you was born to by nature—and you can't

tell me no different. I've watched you grow up, and I know your ways, and

they're my ways. You're runnin' against your own nature, and you're goin' to be

a'mighty sorry for it if you do. You're tryin' to pretend to me something that

don't fit in with your make-up, and it's damn fool pretendin' if you think you're

foolin' me. 'S if I didn't know your real reason for runnin' away! And runnin'

away's the only words to fit it. You're runnin' away 'cause you're put out and

riled 'cause your own brother's got Ruth 'stead o' you" (Horizon 21).

For each of the characters, tragedy results, because they did not follow their

destinies. Ruth because of her haste in deciding to marry Rob, has grown to hate him.

She realizes that she never loved him and wishes Andy would come home and save her

from her prison of marriage. Ruth Mayo, having married the wrong Mayo brother, must

see her marriage fall apart, along with the farm. Her consolation is that the absent Andy

still loves her and he will be a final refuge for her. Andy does not give Ruth the response

she desires and she becomes more bitter and cold as the years pass. Rob, because of

Ruth’s treatment of him, has grown depressed and no longer dreams. He realizes what

he has been deprived of and thinks he still has a chance to reclaim it. Rob was a failure

as a farmer, just as Andy predicted. “Farming ain’t in your nature… as a place to work
and grow things, you hate it” (Horizon 84). His true nature tried to lead him down the

right path, but he refused it. Rob’s life could never work out as long as he is trapped

behind the hills surrounding his farm. For Robert Mayo the hills surrounding the Mayo

farm are a physical symptom of the restrictions, the limitedness and the monotony of

farm life. The restrictions slowly suffocate him and eventually destroy his imagination,

so he can even no longer dream of a happier life. Andy’s punishment is that he is never

truly happy. He spent eight years running from who he is and where he belongs.

Andrew, who has changed during the eight or so years of the play’s action from a

healthy young farmer into a tense, hard, even ruthless–and unsuccessful-speculator, is

the greatest failure of all, for he has spent eight years running away from himself and

has been changed from creator to parasite.

The symbol of the hills surrounding the Mayo's farm is a significant sign to a

better understanding of the psyche of the main characters especially Robert. From a

psychoanalytic perspective, the symbol refers to all indirect and figurative

representations of unconscious desire. The hills for Robert serves as a signifier;

however, what the symbol of hills signifies is the most important aspect in this field.

The hills accompany Robert throughout his psychic development even to his death.

They serve as a symbol for the lack of freedom that Robert suffers from. They give the

picture of the prison Robert trapped in and the broken dreams he has lost. "Oh, those

cursed hills out there that I used to think promised me so much! How I've grown to hate

the sight of them! They're like the walls of a narrow prison yard shutting me in from all

the freedom and wonder of life" (Horizon 34). The sight of the hills keeps changing

throughout the play depending on the psychic status of Robert's mind. At the beginning,

they are the road to freedom; the magical carpet that will carry Robert to the mystery

he is bound of; however, before his death, they gave the impression of the prison Robert
is jailed in.

At the third and final act of the play, all three major characters reach the point

of no return. At this state, no one can escape his tragic end. Robert is suffering from a

serious illness in his lungs and grew very sick due to his hard work in the land. At his

death bed, Robert escapes from the window of his room to the open field to meet his

final destiny there. But the question that should be asked is this: why did Robert choose

the open farm to die there? Was it a conscious or unconscious choice for him? The

answer of this question is a defense mechanism known as regression.” It is the

temporary return to a former psychological state, which is not just imagined but relived”

(Tyson 15). Regression can involve a return either to a painful or a pleasant experience.

In the case of Robert, he wants to be as he wishes to be, a dreamer. He wants to forget

the indoor Robert who abandoned his dreams. Robert expresses his overwhelming

happiness to meet the hills and sun, which reminds him of his early youth, in his last

speech.

"ROBERT—[In a voice which is suddenly ringing with the happiness of hope.]

You mustn't feel sorry for me. It's ridiculous! Don't you see I'm happy at last—

because I'm making a start to the far-off places—free—free!—freed from the

farm—free to wander on and on—eternally! Even the hills are powerless to shut

me in now. [He raises himself on his elbow, his face radiant, and points to the

horizon.] Look! Isn't it beautiful beyond the hills? I can hear the old voices

calling me to come—— [Exultantly.] And this time I'm going—I'm free! It isn't

the end. It's a free beginning -the start of my voyage! Don't you see? I've won

to my trip—the right of release—beyond the horizon! Oh, you ought to be

glad—glad—for my sake"(Horizon 63).

 To sum up, a psychoanalytic perspective reveals a much different love story

than the one ordinarily associated with Beyond the Horizon. As the play illustrates,

romantic love is the stage on which all of our unresolved psychological conflicts are

dramatized, over and over. Indeed, it’s the over‑and‑over, the repetition of destructive

behavior, that tells us an unresolved psychological conflict is “pulling the strings” from

the unconscious. All of the characters discussed above illustrate this principle, though

its operations are, at once, most dramatic and most camouflaged—that is, most

repressed. Beyond the Horizon shows us how effectively romantic relationships can

facilitate our repression of psychological wounds and thereby inevitably carry us, as the

play's closing line so aptly puts it, “that was always the cure for me. It is too late for

this world, but in the next, I will not miss the secret” (Horizon 63).