Taoist Ideas and Eugene O’Neill’s Plays

Abstract

The word "Taoism" is used to translate different Chinese terms which refer to different aspects of the same tradition and semantic field. Taoism focuses spontaneity, simplicity, passivity and the suspicion that the self and the objective world are illusions. It emphasizes unity, peace and the spiritualrather than division, struggle and the material. Taoist philosophy deals with the pursuit of perfection, with the union of an individual human being with nature. Ecological consciousness in Taoism has reflected in American dramaist Eugene O’Neill’s works.