Thornton Wilder, Classical Reception, and American Literature

By: Stephen J. Rojcewicz Jr.

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Paperback | 8 October 2024

At a Glance

Paperback
210 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.12

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This book delineates how Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), a learned playwright and novelist, embeds himself within the classical tradition, integrating Greek and Roman motifs with a wide range of sources to produce heart-breaking masterpieces such as Our Town and comedy sensations such as Dolly Levi.

Through this study of archival sources and close reading, readers will understand Wilder's avant-garde staging and innovative time sequences not as a break with the past, but as a response to the classics. The author traces the genesis of unforgettable characters like Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker, Emily Webb in Our Town, and George Antrobus in The Skin of Our Teeth. Vergil's expression, "Here are the tears of the world, and human matters touch the heart" haunts Wilder's oeuvre. Understanding Vergil's phrase as "tears for the beauty of the world," Wilder utilizes scenes depicting the beauty of the world and the sorrow when individuals recognize this too late. Wilder exhorts us to observe lovingly, alert to the wonder of the everyday.

This work will appeal to actors and directors, professors and students in classics and in American literature, those fascinated by modern drama and performance studies, and non-specialists, theatre-goers, and readers in the general public.

Industry Reviews

"A book of vast and moving scholarship." - Michael Olmert, University of Maryland, USA.

"Reading the first chapter was sheer delight for this Wilder scholar who thought he knew everything about Wilder. Rojcewicz is deepening our understanding of Thornton Wilder's development as writer overall but particularly in his classical qualities, even beyond Niven's biography and the published letters." - Lincoln Konkle, The College of New Jersey, USA.

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