The Emperor Jones Summary

The Emperor Jones is an American tragic play dramatist by Eugene O'Neill in 1920. The Emperor Jones is the story of Brutus Jones, a self-assured African American, a resourceful and former Pullman porter with a criminal record. In a dice game, Brutus Jones killed another black man, so he got jailed, and further escaped to a small backward Caribbean island where he established himself as an emperor.

This play, called The Silver Bullet, recounts Brutus Jones's flashbacks, how he escaped, went through the jungle, and reached the island where he set himself as an emperor. Brutus Jones is a big liar, master manipulator, swindler, and murderer who murdered his friend over a crap game and went to prison. Further reached the island on which he became emperor. This play depicts every scene in a detailed manner.

With the premiere of "Emperor Jones," the play Eugene O'Neill and the Provincetown Players became overnight sensations. This play was outstanding in two ways:

• It was the first time that a big production in mainstream American theatre was taking place, which featured a total commitment to the principles of the Art theatre movement.
• It was hugged with expressionism to reach beyond the literal limit and deeply delve into the subjective world of human experience.

It was considered the writer's first critically acclaimed play with box-office success and the milestone that helped to launch his career in this field.

About the play

About the writer

The theatre was in the genes of O'Neill as his father, James O'Neill, was a successful touring actor in the last quarter of the 19^th century. His mother (Ella) also belonged to the theatre and accompanied her husband back and forth across the country. They only settle down during the birth of her children's elder son, James, Jr. Eugene. The writer Eugene was born in a hotel room and lived his early childhood in hotel rooms, backstage, and on trains. He has gone through difficult, rough & tumble, struggling life.

Firstly O'Neill appeared as a playwright in the summer of 1916 in the quiet fishing village of Provincetown, Massachusetts (a group of young writers and painters launched an experimental theatre). With time O'Neill became the most produced and translated dramatist.

Summary

The play represents the comparative picture of Jones's past and present in an expressionistic manner. In the first scene, Jones presented himself as an emperor of an island in the West Indies. In the afternoon, an old native woman was sneaking around the room when caught by Henry Smithers (a white Cockney, a person from London's East End). The woman came there to inform Smithers about the natives' conspiracy (planning an uprising). The woman left the room, and Emperor Brutus Jones entered the room. Smithers is aware of the uprising, but Jones doesn't seem to be worried at all. Smithers was made aware that his native thinks only a silver bullet can kill him, and Jones has kept the gun loaded with lead bullets and one silver one if he has to commit suicide. He also saved money in case of escape from the island.

Brutus Jones's past continues to govern his presence because he has suddenly risen from a petty porter to an elf-made emperor on an island in the West Indies. A criminal background is a credit in his life span, therefore, he has to win at any cost. Therefore he has to grab the maximum money from the natives before leaving the island. He knew that he had forcefully become the emperor, due to which he was disliked and regarded as an outsider by the natives. Surviving in a troubled environment, Jones tries to reach the edge of the great forest in the evening to save himself from stress.

Jones moves toward forests where he can't be able to find his way. Now he was facing the worst conflict of his life, the experience of a dark forest that jolted his mind. He was hiding and crawling around the white stones for food because he was hungry too. Jones has to deal with little formless fears from Insect larvae with sparkling eyes, and suddenly, he reminds of his loaded revolver and shoots the mysterious creature using the first of his lead bullets.

Jones remains in the forest at the moonrise, which also gives rise to his crisis and loss of confidence. In that dark forest, he becomes an object of pity due to his abrupt deterioration, in which he imagines Jeff, the black man he killed years before. He lost his royal Panama hat, and all his glory ended. He was exhausted and reminded of his negro inheritance. The noise of drum beats destabilizes his mind, and with a panicked mind, he fires a bullet at imaginary Jeff, who disappears after hearing the sound of the shot.

In the next scene, Jones appears dead-tired and deepens his remorse as his fear multiplies. He encountered a mysterious and ghostly road on the moonlit night where he imagined an apparition of a chain gang on which he once worked. He kills the white correctional officer and takes his place in the gang. Now Jones used his third bullet to kill the guard.

It's an early morning scene in which Jones is self-lost, talks to himself, and even prays to God for mercy. In a panic state, he sees apparitions of planters, enslaved people, and auctioneers. John was feeling awe-struck and fired at the two (auctioneer and planter) using two more bullets, who disappeared after hearing the gunshot.

Jones's condition was terrifying, almost stumbling and crawling through the undergrowth. He was pretty paralyzed by fear and almost naked. He saw apparitions of two rows of black men who almost dressed up the same on a ship at sea. John joins them on the ship, wailing, running into the forest, and wailing. He also had a vision of ancestors, panting with exhaustion, and came into a trance state.

Now, it's almost dawn. Jones loses his way and prays to God to forgive his hardener sins. Jones kneels by a rough stone altar. He is terrified and sees a witch doctor and begins to dance. The doctor pointed toward the river having a terrifying crocodile in it. Jones senses that the doctor offered him sacrifices. Jones is terribly in fear & begs for mercy from the doctor, and after that he shoots the crocodile with his last bullet (the silver bullet). John lies on the ground with an increase in the drumbeat.

Jones was running in a circle and reached where he had started. Native man of Jones (Smithers and Lem) looking for him at a place where forests meet the plains. They were beating drums and casting spills for Jones. Lem said his soldiers caught Jones, and Smithers didn't believe him. He said the soldiers had shot him with the silver bullet made by melting down money, and in sometime soldiers arrived with Jones's body.

So, this is the story of a self-made Emperor, Brutus Jones, who dies due to his inner fear and the myth he created. The end of the drama was tragic but was required according to the story of a criminal. This O'Neill drama presents the external conflict of good and evil of savagery and civilization. This is one of the masterpieces of Eugene O'Neill.