The Hairy Ape's reception: the audience, and especially critics, were perplexed. Critics deemed the play as showing “excessive use of monologues, the confusion or slowness of certain scenes, and the depressing monotony which follows all the pathetic 'moments.'"[12] O’Neill has been criticized for the play's issues with social class and racial fabrications. However, he was also praised for his "emotional and dramatic forcefulness of his writing" in The Hairy Ape. He was well known for handling these challenging ideas and thought-provoking plays. The play was admired for its originality and robustness, which only The Hairy Ape and All God's Chillen were stated for. Contradictory to that statement, other critics find the end of The Hairy Ape too simple and predictable. An overall positive criticism surrounds the play, but many critics picked at the flaws of the plot to critique O'Neill's judgment in playwriting. However, the themes were the most resounding aspects of The Hairy Ape and upheld O'Neill's standard of novel drama genius.
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