Accidental Death of an Anarchist

by

Dario Fo

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Themes and Colors
State Repression and Violence Theme Icon
Revolution vs. Reform Theme Icon
Theater, Truth, and Political Consciousness Theme Icon
Labor, Identity, and Humanity Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

State Repression and Violence

Accidental Death of an Anarchist satirizes a remarkable chapter from the political turmoil of 1960s Italy: after a deadly bomb attack on a major Milan bank, the police detained and interrogated an anarchist activist, who died mysteriously after falling out of the police station window. The official investigation labeled the death an accident, but many activists and intellectuals suspected foul play on the part of the police. In Fo’s play, a “certified psychotic” and…

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Revolution vs. Reform

Accidental Death of an Anarchist mostly shows the Maniac infiltrate the Milan police headquarters, make fools of the police officers, and uncover the truth about the anarchist’s death. But in its closing minutes, the play takes a dramatic turn. The Maniac reveals that he is not actually a “certified lunatic” with a knack for impersonating bishops, psychiatrists, and judges, but rather a left-wing activist who has been impersonating a lunatic in order to secretly…

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Theater, Truth, and Political Consciousness

Like most of Dario Fo’s work, Accidental Death of an Anarchist is not a traditional play designed for a passive, uncritical audience to watch through a “fourth wall.” The actors repeatedly call one another by their real names, ask the audience questions, and criticize the playwright himself. Fo lets his actors adapt their jokes and political commentary to the time and place where they are performing. (For instance, this LitChart is based on the 1980…

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Labor, Identity, and Humanity

Accidental Death of an Anarchist is full of characters whose personal and professional lives don’t quite align: the bumbling police officers, the righteous journalist Maria Feletti, and of course the multi-talented Maniac, who convincingly impersonates professionals from bishops and army captains to surgeons and High Court magistrates. Fo’s critique of labor is clearest of all in his police officers. Even though they spend their days torturing activists, the policemen are not right-wing fanatics—in…

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