ury, were capable of creating the essence of many various types of women having great strength, magnitude, and significant meaning for man's salvation, objective and independent value, and true self-recognition in their plays. According to the theme of each chapter, this thesis selected one play showing the woman's remarkable characteristic best and examined the roles of woman.
First, the woman replaces a role of 'Force behind' by Ruth in Beyond the Horizon, and 'Life Force' by Ann in Man and Superman. From the view of appearance, O'Neill's 'Force behind' seems to be such bad powers as reversing the dream, changing the subjective view of life, binding the present, and Shaw's 'Life Force,' such good powers as creative promotion, evolution, development and perfection of self. But, from the view of reality, they are all good ones to lead us to achieve our dream, regression, awareness, self-realization, supreme love, ideal society, real right, superman, and become an assistant for a better human being and a better society. Second, the woman plays a role as a reliever, Abbie in Desire Under the Elms leading Eben to be a strong and mature man to face the obstacles of the world for himself, Barbara in Major Barbara, a woman with the powerful will to solve and improve many difficult problems of man and society. Third, the woman plays a role giving man an objective and independent value, by Mildred in The Hairy Ape, who destroys Yank's trustful pride of the present world and leads him to think the object value, by Vivie in Mrs Warren's Profession, 'A New Woman,' who has pride and objectivity, rejects all traditional customs, reveals the falsity of man and society, lives an independent life, realizes her own self, and shows woman is equal to man. Fourth, the woman plays a role to making man recognize his true self, by Ella in All God's Chillun Got Wings, who grabs the Congo mask and makes Jim know he cannot pass a layer examination and belong to a white society, and that he is a Negro the mask requires, by Candida in Candida, who leads both socialist, Morell and idealist, Marchbanks to take off such false masks as wrong dream and illusion, and confront reality.
The roles of the woman in O'Neill's and Shaw's plays, in the end, have common elements: first, they, externally, can be classified into two aspects of 'destructive woman' and 'relievable mother,' second, woman plays a decisive and important role to man, third, from the viewpoint of main role, woman leads man. And there are different elements between them: while O'Neill's woman is weaker, more passionate and selfish than Shaw's, and externally, seems to cause man to face tragic conflict, despair, and death, but internally, is to be his helper for salvation, objective and dependent value, self-realization, Shaw's woman is more reasonable, anti-romantic, intellectual, despotic, and vital than O'Niell's, and plays, from beginning to end, a consistent role from both the external and the internal side.