Chronology Entry
Year
1941
Text
Wilder, Thornton. Some thoughts on playwriting. (1941) In : Wilder, Thornton. American characteristics and other essays. (New York, N.Y. : Harper & Row, 1979).
The modern world is inclined to laugh condescendingly at the fact that in the plays of Racine and Corneille the gods and heroes of antiquity were dressed like the courtiers under Louis XIV ; that in the Elizabethan Age scenery was replaced by placards notifying the audience of the location ; and that a whip in the hand and a jogging motion of the body indicated that a man was on horseback in the Chinese theater, these devices did not spring from naïveté, however, but from the vitality of the public imagination in those days and from an instinctive feeling as to where the essential and where the inessential lay in drama.
The modern world is inclined to laugh condescendingly at the fact that in the plays of Racine and Corneille the gods and heroes of antiquity were dressed like the courtiers under Louis XIV ; that in the Elizabethan Age scenery was replaced by placards notifying the audience of the location ; and that a whip in the hand and a jogging motion of the body indicated that a man was on horseback in the Chinese theater, these devices did not spring from naïveté, however, but from the vitality of the public imagination in those days and from an instinctive feeling as to where the essential and where the inessential lay in drama.
Mentioned People (1)
Wilder, Thornton
(Madison, Wisc. 1897-1975 Hamden, Conn.) : Schriftsteller, Dramatiker
Subjects
Literature : Occident : United States of America
Documents (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1979 | Wilder, Thornton. American characteristics and other essays. (New York, N.Y. : Harper & Row, 1979). S. 123. | Publication / Wild17 |
|