Twinship Themes and Fantasies in the Work of Thornton Wilder

Two important motifs appear in Thornton Wilder's work: the survivor theme and the rescue theme. In this paper, evidence is mobilized to demonstrate that both derive from the circumstances of Wilder's birth. He was the survivor of a pair of twins. His brother Theophilus died a few hours after his birth and Wilder was said to have been a frail child whose life was in peril. The survivor theme indicates that the author wondered why one twin would live and the other die, that he felt guilty about his good fortune and about associated hostile feelings, probably derived from oedipal feelings, and that he wished to undo and master the calamitous birth. The rescue theme, in which the

protagonist saves one or several persons from tragedy, is not only an attempt at reversing the catastrophic birth, but also derives from oedipal wishes. Issues having to do with the twinship and oedipal desires intertwine. In Wilder's case, disappointment in his parents who fought with one another and deserted him influenced the configuration of his oedipal wishes. His twin fantasies derived from and were intensified by his defenses against feelings of rage and oedipal love.