In Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920), an ostensibly simple ironic turn of events provokes a chain of circumstances that becomes tragic in magnitude and inclusiveness. Two brothers, Robert and Andrew Mayo, are all set to pursue what appear to be their respective natural directions in life, Rob to go to sea in search of the play's titular promise, Andrew to stay home and work the farm, following his father James's lead and fond desire. Yet the love of each brother for one young woman, Ruth Atkins, causes an abrupt reversal in these destinies, and Rob, who is utterly unsuited to working the land, stays behind to marry Ruth and be a farmer while Andy takes his brother's place on the sea voyage. Ruth, as it turns out, is uncertain and inconsistent in her feelings for the brothers, and so their respective decisions in relation to her appear increasingly and, as it turns out, tragically unfounded as the play's action advances.

The ironic aspects of the play's initiating situation, when aligned with the extremity of their effects upon Rob in particular, not only prompt but also sustain the tragic momentum and overall trajectory of action. O'Neill emphasizes the ties of the Mayo family to nature, the farm and the land, as well as the innate, or “natural,” aspects of the brothers' original intentions. Once these fundamental courses are reversed, though, there is no help for the situation and no way to set things right.