A Homeless Architect: Nietzschean Philosophy of the Earth in The Great God Brown

In Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown, Dion Anthony, named after Dionysus and St. Anthony, is described as a personality split between the Dionysian spirit and ascetic, Platonic Christianity, whereas William A. Brown, whose middle initial stands for Apollo, represents modern materialistic culture as a successful businessman. Nietzsche’s influence on the play, obvious in the characters’ names and personalities, is in fact more significant than has previously been pointed out. Nietzsche’s anti-Platonic, Dionysian philosophy of the earth spurs the playwright’s search for what he once mentioned as “God in this life” (not in the afterlife) in presenting the idea of the feminine earth conceived under the philosopher’s strong influence, attempting to depict a vison of modern humans reborn into a flowering world to overcome both Platonism and materialism.