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1983 biography of the dramatist and the published selections from Wilder’s journals for the years 1939-1961, as well as unpublished material - letters, diaries, and notes - in the Yale Collection of American Literature Wilder papers.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.