“It Must Even Be Dramatized”

Scrittura teatrale e forme shakespeariane in “The Moon Is Down” di John Steinbeck

Authors

  • Vincenzo Maggitti

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2023.i22.1404

Keywords:

Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down, Shakespeare, Macbeth, play-novella, theatre studies, American Studies

Abstract

In this essay the author means to analyze a ‘minor’ text by John Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down (1942), by bringing new attention to its Shakespearian themes and modes, in particular its link with Macbeth, already apparent in the title of the book. To reconsider this novel, written by Steinbeck as a piece of war propaganda for the US allies in the Second World War, also implies tackling the debated issue of the literary genre, implicated in Steinbeck’s experimental choice of the play-novella. Framed in the context of the critical reception of the time, this essay develops the relevance of dreams and dreaming in the antiwar theme of the novel.

References

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Published

2023-12-21

Issue

Section

Articles (general section) - American language, literature, and culture