This article is introduced with a summarized discussion on the "theater's metaphor" as considered by Plato. It goes on considering several turning points in the literature history and investigating the different uses of the metaphoric process in Guimarães Rosa "Grande sertão: veredas" and "Pirlimpsiquice". Firt of all, in "Grande sertão" life is considered as a simbolic equivalent to actors performance in the stage: theater and life are seen, therefore, as concerning fields which identities can be stated upon christian religious doctrine and Plotino's philosophy. On the other hand, in "Pirlimpsiquice", Guimarães Rosa points that the limits between life and theater fields can be sharply identified, leading to the conclusion that the different degrees of use of the metaphoric process is due to historical and cultural practices. Based on the theoric controversy between Hegel's and Plato's points of view on art's philosophy, the author concludes that the notions of "performance in the stage" and "performance in life" are sintetized under the continuous dialectic movement of history and culture.
Literature; theater; theory of theater; Brazilian literature