"Vast Encyclopedia": The Theatre of Thornton Wilder (Contributions in Drama and Theatre Studies)

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1983 biography of the dramatist and the published selections from Wilder's journals for the years 1939-1961, as well as unpublished materialletters, diaries, and notesin the Yale Collection of American Literature Wilder papers.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.Lifton, Paul is the author of '"Vast Encyclopedia": The Theatre of Thornton Wilder (Contributions in Drama and Theatre Studies)', published 1995 under ISBN 9780313293566 and ISBN 0313293562.