الفهرس 
The Significance of the PastOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to focus on the role of the past as an essential component in forming the characters‘ present and future. This past is the invisible enemy behind the creation of the broken families in the plays of Eugene O‘Neill and Tennessee Williams that are examined here; namely, O‘Neill‘s Mourning Becomes Electra (1931) and Williams‘s The Glass Menagerie (1944). These texts have been selected because they provide a thorough investigation of people’s interactions with their past and their inability to cope with the shackles of their previous lives. Both playwrights explore the idea of the past and its impact on their protagonists‘ present and future. Many of their main characters are afflicted by their misleading links to individual and historical pasts that are mostly constituted in their minds. The works of Harold Bloom, Roger Boxill, Sumita Ashri, Patricia. R Schroeder and many other distinguished critics have formed the critical framework for this study. The thesis is divided into three chapters, and a conclusion. The first chapter is entitled: The Significance of the Past in selected Plays by O’Neill and Williams. It presents the designation of the past and its pivotal role in influencing the characters‘ present as appears in the life and works of both V writers as well as in the views of some scholars. The second Chapter is entitled: The Dysfunctional American Family and the Past in selected Plays by O’Neill and Williams. It shows the impact of the past in the formation of the dysfunctional families. This past is regarded as the component which haunts characters, preventing them from creating a relaxing and convenient familial relationship. The third Chapter is entitled: Dramatic Techniques in O’Neill’s and Williams’s plays. It introduces the dramatic devices the two playwrights utilize in presenting the idea of the past and how these techniques enrich our understanding of the effect of the past on both characters and actions. The conclusion summarizes the thesis and its findings.