Part I : Introduction : The idea of a theater
Chapter 1 "Oedipus Rex" : the tragic rhythm of action. The myth and the play. Hero and Scapegoat. Ritual and Play. Sophocles and Euripides, The Rationalist . The imitation of an action. Analogues of the tragic rhythm
Chapter 2 "Bérénice" : the Action and Theater of Reason. The tragedy of reason
Racine's Dramaturgy : the Rational Imitation of Action. The Theater of Reason in Its Time and Place
The Diminished Scene of Modern Rationalism
Chapter 3 "Tristan Und Isolde" : The Action and Theater of Passion. From Racine to Wagner. "Tristan" as myth and as ritual. The Dramaturgy of "Tristan". The Theater of the German People. Racine and Wagner : Univocal form and action
Chapter 4 "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" : The Analogy of Action. "Hamlet" as an artistic faillure. "Hamlet" as multiple plot. "Hamlet" as ritual and improvisation. The Globe Theater and the Festival of Dionysos. The ritual and improvisation : Hamlet's Play as the Center. An interpretation of the role of Hamlet. Analogous action : an interpretation of the play. "Hamlet" and the modern theater
Part II : Introduction The partial perspectives of the modern theater. Chapter 5 "Ghosts" and "The Cherry Orchard" : The theater of modern realism . The plot of "Ghosts". The tragic rhythm in a small figure. The tasteless parlor and the stage of Europe. The plot of "The Cherry Orchard". The scene as a basic element in the composition. Chekhov's historinic art : an end and a beginning.
Chapter 6 : The Theatricality of Shaw and Pirandello. On Shavian Theatricality : the Platform and The Drawing-Room
Action as Theatrical : "Six Characters in Search of an author"
Chapter 7 Poetry of the Theater and the Poet in the Theater. The Paris Theater between the wars
"The Infernal Machine" : the myth behind the modern city. "Noah" : the theater-poetic reality of the myth. "Murder in the Cathedral" : the theological scene. The unrealized idea of a theater
Part III Appendix on certain technical concepts used in this study. Plot and action. Two aspects of the plot : form and purpose. The notion of analogy
The histrionic sensibility : the Mimetic Perception of Action.
