The Frame

by Eugene O’Neill

I…didn’t really know what to make of this play upon reading it, and I’m still not sure. Jones is a black man from United States who goes to an island in the Caribbean and convinces the native Negro inhabitants to make him their Emperor. The action of the play concerns Jones’s attempt to flee an impending uprising. I couldn’t say exactly what O’Neill’s message is, but it was an interesting play to read. It seems a bit racist to me, in retrospect, but it was well-received by the Harlem reviewers of its day, so…I don’t know. It also seems as though it would be a lot better and more clear on stage, rather than reading it (there’s a constant tom-tom beat, for example, that obviously doesn’t come across as well on paper). Stylistically, it was very impressive, so I’m definitely set to check out some of O’Neill’s other writings.
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