FW and the Skin of OUr Teeth

Antrobus and Earwicker families both have Mom, Dad, 2 Sons, Daughter

The play Skin of Our Teeth was very dreamy and most of the time it was hard to differentiate between the two worlds. Finnegans wake is similar in that it is often hard to discern where the story is taking place, who is in it, what is going on, and whether it is actually happening.

The play, in its more dramatic stages, seems to fluctuate up and down. Often returning to where it began. As FW is a cycle, this ties in nicely with what Joyce was doing.

The play and FW both take us completely through the history of man (albeit very shortly)

The phrase Skin of Our Teeth comes from the book of Jobe, Joyce often makes satirical remarks about/ quoting the bible in Finnegans Wake

To me, at least, SOT is an easier way to understand the ciclical nature of FW. a sort of middlebrow between the low and the high.