All God's Chillun Got Wings (play)

All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924) was an expressionist play by Eugene O'Neill about miscegenation inspired from the old negro spiritual.

Arguably one of his most controversial of plays, it starred Paul Robeson in the premiere, in which he portrayed the black husband of an abusive white woman, who resenting her husband's skin color, destroys his promising career as a lawyer.

Jim Harris- Ella’s husband. An African American man attempting to pass the law school examinations, he is protective of Ella and submissive to her demands.

Mrs. Harris- Jim and Hattie’s mother. An older woman who doesn’t think that the races should mix.

Hattie- Jim’s sister. Hattie doesn’t approve of Jim and Ella’s marriage and feels that Ella is abusing Jim.

Ella Downey- Jim’s wife. She is uncomfortable being Jim’s wife and wants to control him throughout the play.

Shorty- Ella’s childhood friend. A white gangster who offers Ella work as a prostitute.

Joe- Jim’s childhood friend. An African American gangster who is mad at Jim for trying to use education to escape from his life.

Mickey- Ella’s childhood friend. He is a boxer who leaves Ella after she becomes pregnant with his child.

The play is divided into two acts that are further broken up into seven scenes and it opens up on an integrated corner in the south of New York. There are three converging streets that form at the edge of a triangular building. Though integrated, the people separate themselves by race, black on one end, white on the other except for the kids that are playing marbles between one another in the center. Scene one begins with an introduction to the main and supporting characters Jim, Ella, Mickey, Joe and Shorty. Jim and Ella are singled out as liking each other and the bond over being called “painty face” and “crow”.

In scene two, it’s nine years later and takes place on the same corner with a showcases the technological advances—horse and buggy for automobiles. The relationship between Jim and Ella has changed. Jim is pining for Ella’s recognition and Shorty and Joe questions his blackness because of his desire to graduate and pass the bar exam. It seems as if he has fallen prey to Shorty’s degradation of his ability and potential. It is also revealed that Ella is in a relationship with Mickey.

In scene three, the setting is the same but five years later. The people on the streets appear even more tired. It starts out with Shorty and Ella discussing the break up with Mickey and reveals that she had a child only to lose it to diphtheria. The scene also goes on the show the somewhat mended relationship between Ella and Jim which in turn causes her to lose her relationship with her parents. When Jim enters the scene, he mentions how he failed the bar exam yet again. Jim explains that the reason behind him not passing is his feeling of inferiority to the other students and not his lack of knowledge. Ella doesn’t appear to be upset over this and tried to encourage him by referring to him as “white”. This portion ends with Jim asking her whether or not she would marry him and she replies with a yes.

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