The Hairy Ape

Drama | Eugene O'Neill
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Analyze the character of Mildred Douglas

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Write what you know about Mildred Douglas. [NU: 2017] ★★★

Or, Analyze the character of Mildred Douglas. [NU: 2019]

Eugene O’Neill’s (1888-1953) “The Hairy Ape” (1922) gives Mildred Douglas an important role. She doesn’t have a long role, but she is the turning point of the play. She changes Yank’s pride into pain. She is a symbol of the upper class and the class gap. 

Symbol of Aristocracy: Mildred is the daughter of a steel magnate (Nazareth Steel). She belongs to the rich class. She lives with comfort and wealth. She wears white clothes, which show purity and high society. She goes to the ship with her aunt. Her aunt laughs at her idea of helping the poor. This shows that the rich class does not respect the poor. Mildred repr

esents aristocracy. She is the symbol of wealth and false sympathy.

Breaker of False Pride: Yank is proud of his power in the stokehole. He says he is the engine of the ship. Yank proudly says,

“I’m part of de engines!”

Other firemen fear him. But when Mildred comes, everything changes. She looks at Yank and cries out,

“Oh, the filthy beast!”

Then she faints. This insult breaks Yank’s false pride. He no longer feels like a man. He feels like an animal. Her single word destroys his confidence. She becomes the breaker of his false pride.

Symbol of Class Division: Mildred never meets Yank again. But her insult follows him. He remembers her in Fifth Avenue, in prison, and even in the zoo. She is more than a girl. She is the voice of the whole rich society. Through her, O’Neill shows the deep class division. She proves that the rich look at the workers as animals.

Mildred Douglas is a powerful character. She is the symbol of aristocracy. She is the breaker of Yank’s pride. She is the symbol of class division. Through her, O’Neill shows how one careless word of the rich can destroy a worker’s soul.

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Eugene O'Neill
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