According to Wikipedia: "Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature. His plays are among the first to introduce into American drama the techniques of realism, associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish playwright August Strindberg. His plays were among the first to include speeches in American vernacular. His plays involve characters who inhabit the fringes of society, engaging in depraved behavior, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair. O'Neill wrote only one well-known comedy (Ah, Wilderness!): nearly all his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism."
