Vast Encyclopedia: The Theatre of Thornton Wilder

(Hardback)

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This comprehensive, detailed study of Thornton Wilder's entire dramatic oeuvre places the works in their broad aesthetic and philosophical context, and integrates literary analysis of the plays with interpretation of their theatrical techniques. Its sources include Gilbert Harrison's "authorized" 1983 biography of the dramatist and the published selections from Wilder's journals for the years 1939-1961, as well as unpublished material - letters, diaries, and notes - in the Yale Collection of American Literature Wilder papers. The book discusses the symbolist, naturalist, expressionist, Brechtian, futurist, Pirandellian, and existentialist elements in Wilder's plays, as well as parallels between Wilder's theatre and that of such diverse cultures as the classical Greek and Roman, medieval European, Elizabethan, Renaissance Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.

Reviews

"Paul Lifton's book on Thornton Wilder provides for both the student and the scholar the entire intellectual and artistic context of Wilder's work. It is prodigious and indispensable."-Donald Haberman, Professor of English Arizona State University

Author Bio

PAUL LIFTON is Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at North Dakota State University.