Expressionism is a literary and artistic movement that resisted the principles of Impressionism and Realism by rejecting representations of an external reality and focusing instead on the inner emotional experience of humanity. Drawing on the work of Sigmund Freud, Expressionism explored the intensity and complexity of the human subconscious.
In The Emperor Jones, the protagonist experiences intense feelings of fear and guilt combined with vivid hallucinations. He hears the beating drums of the natives he has oppressed, and the tempo of the drums increases in time with his accelerating heartbeat as he fears for his life. He also encounters visions of people he has swindled and killed. However, his inner emotional turmoil is also an expression of his racial inheritance. As an African-American who has declared himself emperor of a West Indian island, he is a member of an oppressed class who has, in turn, reenacted that oppression on others. He imagines being held aboard a slave ship and auctioned off as his ancestors once were.
Eugene O'Neil's Expressionistic technique allows for a multilayered, more nuanced approach to issues of race.
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