The Duality of Hope and Despair: Thornton Wilder’s Apocalyptic Vision in the Skin of Our Teeth (Umut Ve Umutsuzluk İkilemi: Thornton Wilder’ın Ramak Kaldı'daki Kıyamet İmgelemi)

Abstract

Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth is one of the earliest precursors of apocalyptic themes in modern American drama. The play, written in 1942 when America was plunging into the enormity of World War II, criticizes the progress of humanity, life struggle, unity of American family, rise of technology and war using apocalypse as a metaphor. The focus of the play is on the Antrobuses—a typical American family with two children and a maid who have to survive apocalypses such as the glacier, the deluge and the war respectively in three acts. The recurrent image of apocalypse reveals a sense of both an ending—despair and a new beginning—hope. This study examines Wilder’s apocalyptic vision in The Skin of Our Teeth by comparing it to the traditional form of apocalypse which contains the duality of hope and despair.

Keywords

• Thornton Wilder
• The Skin Of Our Teeth
• Apocalypse
• Apocalyptic Literature.