Vast Encyclopedia: The Theatre of Thornton Wilder (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780313293566)

This comprehensive, detailed study of Wilder's entire dramatic oeuvre is the only one to place the works in their broad aesthetic and philosophical context and to integrate 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1983 biography of the dramatist and the published selections from Wilder's journals for the years 1939-1961, as well as unpublished material--letters, diaries, and notes--in the Yale Collection of American Literature Wilder papers. Lifton 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.

Author: Paul Lifton
ISBN-10: 0313293562
ISBN-13: 9780313293566
Publisher: Praeger
Language: English
Published: 10/10/1995
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.56d