Dilemma: on Robert’s Ethical Dilemma in Beyond the Horizon

Eugene O’Neill, a famous American dramatist, focuses on the discussion and reflection of the fate of the characters in the dilemma of existence. His masterpiece Beyond the Horizon shows the social status in the transitional period of the United States and the struggles and heartaches of ordinary people in the ethical dilemma with the tragic experience of the protagonist Robert. Starting from the relevant theories of literary ethical criticism, this paper explores the causes of Robert’s ethical dilemma from three aspects: identity, value and death, which can show Robert’s despair and helplessness in the realization of his personal ideal, and also reveal Eugene O’Neill’s ethical reflection on many issues between human and society, human and human, and his good wishes for the reconstruction of ethical order.