Bettie - Ugo Betti

Italian poet and playwright. Born in Camerino. Graduated from the law department. He was taken prisoner in the fierce battlefield of Caporetto during World War I. After the war, he worked as a judge and wrote a collection of poems, The Contemplative King (1922), and a collection of short stories, Cain (1928). His realistic writing style is characterized by an allegorical and symbolic theme. His specialty was playwriting, and he won the Dramatic Literature Prize in 1927 for The Female Protagonist, and subsequently published works such as The Duck Hunter (1940) and Audit (1947). He uses a courtroom as the stage to expose the sins, contradictions, and tragedies of modern people, but there is a sense of salvation at the end. In his later years, he wrote Crime on the Island of the She-Goat (1948) and Corruption in the Court (1949), depicting the struggle over sex and power. His last work was Burnt Flower Bed (1952).

[Hideo Hanano]

"Akazawa Hiroshi's translation of "The Crime on the Island of the She-Goat" (included in "World Literature Series 95", 1965, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Satoi Masami's translation of "Corruption in the Court" (included in "Contemporary World Theatre 12", 1971, Hakusuisha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イタリアの詩人、劇作家。カメリーノに生まれる。大学は法科を卒業。第一次世界大戦の激戦地カポレットで捕虜となる。戦後は判事を務めるかたわら詩集『沈思の王』（1922）、短編集『カイン』（1928）を書く。寓話(ぐうわ)的・象徴的な主調にリアリスティックな筆致がさえる。本領は戯曲で、1927年『女主人公』で劇文学賞を受賞、以後『鴨(かも)の猟人』（1940）、『監査』（1947）などを発表。舞台を法廷に見立てて現代人の罪や矛盾や悲劇性をえぐるが、大詰には救いがある。晩年には『牝山羊が島の犯罪』（1948）、『裁判所の腐敗』（1949）を書き、性や権力をめぐる暗闘を描いた。『焼けた花壇』（1952）が遺作となった。

［花野秀男］

『赤沢寛訳『牝山羊が島の犯罪』（『世界文学大系95』所収・1965・筑摩書房）』▽『里居正美訳『裁判所の腐敗』（『現代世界演劇12』所収・1971・白水社）』

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