The first difference that is conspicuous if someone examines these three works is that the two writers put the artists in different environments. O’Neill describes a more or less traditional family, while Shepard’s characters are very much influenced by the twentieth century pop culture and its art. As a consequence, O’Neill’s “classic” family consists of people who represent classical fields of art: the mother is a pianist, the father and Jamie are actors in a theatre and Edmund (and in a way his brother, either) are poets. On the other hand Shepard’s heroe

This area "40 miles east of Los Angeles" is not merely an autobiographical font of local color; it is the magic source for the playwright's dramatic tension, his heart's country. It is the real place where Shepard spent his formative years, yet the playwright also condemns its artificiality. It is Shepard's heart's country perhaps because, not in spite, of its dual nature as both authentic and inauthentic. (1)

TYRONE. Maybe life overdid the lesson for me and made a dollar worth too much, and the time came when that mistake ruined my career as a fine actor. […] That God-damned play I bought for a song – a great money success – it ruined me with its promise of an easy fortune. I didn’t want to do anything else, and by the time I woke up to the fact I’d become a slave to the damned thing. […] I’d lost the great talent I once had through years of easy repetition, never learning a new part, never really working hard” (47).

AUSTIN. He’s been camped out on the desert for three months. Talking to cactus. What’s he know about what people wanna’ see on the screen! I drive on the freeway every day. I swallow the smog. I watch the news in color. I shop in the Safeway. I’m the one who’s in touch! Not him (35)!

If we examine the characters from the point of view of success, we have to make a distinction between two kinds of successes: being talented and being appreciated. If we consider the first kind, then Jamie is the only one who seems to have real talent and can write “successful” poems. But if the other kind is the viewpoint of observation, then Lee emerges as the only “winner”, since at the present moment only his work of art is recognized. If we want to be really critical, we have to admit that none of the seven artists can create anything that is worthy and lasting, no matter how hard they try (and some of them do not even try any more). For example Henry also seems to have some kind of talent, but though every artist strives for making something permanent, he refuses to fix anything – he prefers writing in the air, which–though he says the opposite–is not really enduring.

Taking into consideration the nature of their art, Henry and Austin serve as the subjects of comparison. Supposedly Henry also works for the film-making industry, probably he is some kind of producer, whose task is to find new talents. He really seems to have the gift to do this, since in the scene where he talks to Raul about the palm trees he appears to have a fine sense of beauty. Though we gradually realize that he is probably mad, he surprisingly wisely observes that all the stories are the same. This way he questions the possibility of authenticity, but at the same time he gives a solution to the problem when he states, “One story’s as good as another. It’s all in the way you tell it. That’s what counts. That’s what makes the difference” (265).

Some topics in this essay:
Edmund’s Egri’s, True West, TYRONE Maybe, Safeway I’m, Los Angeles, Austin Lee, Shepard According, Henry Edmund, Journey Shepard’s, Supposedly Henry, true west, art artist, twentieth century, austin lee, hick town, mind freeing, writers try, possibility authenticity, hollywood-infected world, setting suggests,