The Hairy Ape Study Guide

The stage directions indicate that the setting of the first scene is the forecastle (the bunkroom where the sailors live) of a transatlantic ocean liner. The ceiling is low, so the sailors have to stoop; the walls and bunks are all framed in polished steel, and the men are described as rough and rowdy, and all being white. The image is of animalistic men in a cage. (read more)