O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar e comparar as peças Death of a Salesman [Morte dum caixeiro viajante] (1949), do dramaturgo americano Arthur Miller (1915-2005), e Rasga Coração (1974), do dramaturgo brasileiro Oduvaldo Vianna Filho (Vianinha) (1936-1974), especialmente em relação aos elementos épicos presentes nelas. Ambas as obras possuem uma estrutura formal que apresenta passado e presente simultaneamente no palco. Uma vez que uma peça dramática pressupõe sempre o tempo presente exposto cenicamente, o fato de o passado ser parte estrutural de Death of a Salesman e Rasga Coração já o transforma num primeiro importante traço épico das duas obras. A partir daí, vários outros elementos épicos serão apontados e examinados durante o trabalho sendo que estes elementos são importantes na representação dos conflitos sócio-históricos presentes nos Estados Unidos dos anos 40 e no Brasil nas primeiras sete dé-cadas do século XX. Outro aspecto que as duas peças apresentam em comum é o fato de analisarem um conflito geracional entre pai e filho(s), que representa, ao mesmo tempo, o conflito entre forças sociais e históricas maiores. Estudar quais são estas forças sociais representadas é também objetivo da pesquisa. Isto fará com que semelhanças e diferen-ças entre as obras e seus contextos apareçam e sejam discutidas. / The objective of this research is to analyze and compare the plays Death of a Salesman (1949), by the American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005), and Rasga Coração, by the Brazilian playwright Oduvaldo Vianna Filho (Vianinha) (1936-1974), especially concerning their use of epic elements. Both plays have a formal structure that presents past and present simultaneously on stage. Since a dramatic work always presupposes the scenic exposure of the present as a central characteristic, the fact that the past is part of the structure of Death of a Salesman and Rasga Coração transforms it into the most important epic element in both plays. Other epic elements of importance for the repre-sentation of social and historical conflicts of the United States in the forties and of Bra-zil in the first seven decades of the XX century will be examined as well. Another char-acteristic shared by these two plays is the fact that they discuss the generation conflict between father and son(s) in a way that combines the representation of private family affairs to the one of bigger social and historical forces. To study the nature of these so-cial forces represented in the two plays is another objective of this research, which will discuss and point out similarities and differences between them and their respective so-cial contexts.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar e comparar as peças Death of a Salesman [Morte dum caixeiro viajante] (1949), do dramaturgo americano Arthur Miller (1915-2005), e Rasga Coração (1974), do dramaturgo brasileiro Oduvaldo Vianna Filho (Vianinha) (1936-1974), especialmente em relação aos elementos épicos presentes nelas. Ambas as obras possuem uma estrutura formal que apresenta passado e presente simultaneamente no palco. Uma vez que uma peça dramática pressupõe sempre o tempo presente exposto cenicamente, o fato de o passado ser parte estrutural de Death of a Salesman e Rasga Coração já o transforma num primeiro importante traço épico das duas obras. A partir daí, vários outros elementos épicos serão apontados e examinados durante o trabalho sendo que estes elementos são importantes na representação dos conflitos sócio-históricos presentes nos Estados Unidos dos anos 40 e no Brasil nas primeiras sete dé-cadas do século XX. Outro aspecto que as duas peças apresentam em comum é o fato de analisarem um conflito geracional entre pai e filho(s), que representa, ao mesmo tempo, o conflito entre forças sociais e históricas maiores. Estudar quais são estas forças sociais representadas é também objetivo da pesquisa. Isto fará com que semelhanças e diferen-ças entre as obras e seus contextos apareçam e sejam discutidas. / The objective of this research is to analyze and compare the plays Death of a Salesman (1949), by the American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005), and Rasga Coração, by the Brazilian playwright Oduvaldo Vianna Filho (Vianinha) (1936-1974), especially concerning their use of epic elements. Both plays have a formal structure that presents past and present simultaneously on stage. Since a dramatic work always presupposes the scenic exposure of the present as a central characteristic, the fact that the past is part of the structure of Death of a Salesman and Rasga Coração transforms it into the most important epic element in both plays. Other epic elements of importance for the repre-sentation of social and historical conflicts of the United States in the forties and of Bra-zil in the first seven decades of the XX century will be examined as well. Another char-acteristic shared by these two plays is the fact that they discuss the generation conflict between father and son(s) in a way that combines the representation of private family affairs to the one of bigger social and historical forces. To study the nature of these so-cial forces represented in the two plays is another objective of this research, which will discuss and point out similarities and differences between them and their respective so-cial contexts.

De fortes contraintes juridiques, morales et coutumières pesaient sur les femmes de la fin du « long » 18ème siècle en Grande Bretagne. Les écrits féminins s’en ressentaient autant du point de vue des stratégies littéraires que de l’intrigue. Pour contourner les interdits et les tabous dont l’écriture féminine devait tenir compte, certaines romancières eurent recours à une satire ingénieuse qui ridiculisait les travers d’une société qui leur interdisait le sens critique. L’étude du contexte permet de faire la lumière sur le pourquoi et le comment de leurs stratégies satiriques. C’était l’époque des Lumières anglaises et écossaises, du début de la Révolution Industrielle et de la formation des classes moyennes. L’économie s’épanouissait et requérait une première « consommation de masse ». Synecdoques de la femme à vendre ou qui cherche à l’être, l’objet et l’argent sont les deux aspects d’analyse critique qui sous-tendent la structure de ce travail. La théorie de la re-création esthétique à la réception de Wolfgang Iser sert à souligner l’écart de réception possible entre le lecteur d’alors et celui de nos jours, et ensuite à susciter, investigations dans le contexte à l’appui, une émotion nouvelle à la lecture de ces ouvrages vieux de deux siècles. La théorie de la consommation de Baudrillard est choisie parce qu’elle facilite une compréhension de certains comportements autour de l’objet de personnages satirisés dans les romans. / Heavy juridical, moral and customary constraints weighed on women at the end of the « long » 18th century in Great Britain. The impact of such constraints on feminine writing touched the various literary strategies as well as the plots in the novels. In order to get round the taboos set by patriarchy - taboos that only touched the world of women – a few women writers used an ingenious kind of satire that ridiculed the faults of a society that forbade them any right to criticise. Researching the context allows us to understand the motives and the techniques of their satirical strategies. This was the time of English and Scottish Enlightenment, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the making of the middle classes. The economy was flourishing and led to a first wave of “mass consumption”. As synecdoches for women for sale or who wanted to be sold, objects and money are the two sides to the critical analysis that underlies the structure of this thesis. Wolfgang Iser’s theory of aesthetic re-creation by the reader is used to underline the possible gap in reception between at least two communities of readers and then, through investigation in the context, to arouse new interest for the works by Burney, Austen and Ferrier, some of them really unknown to most. Baudrillard’s theory of consumption has been chosen because it facilitates the reader’s understanding of the characters’ behaviour with respect to objects when the characters in question are the target of satire.