"The progress of the ages, like a parable, in mid course may suddenly take flame…"

The monograph "The Poetics of Parable in 20th century British Drama: the Problem of Conflict and Composition" (2011) by S.G.Komarov is reviewed as a new interesting and productive research, devoted to the genre of parable and to the theatre of the United Kingdom. The author of the monograph analyses the functions of the parable in British theatre on the data of the 20th century drama from G. Bernard Shaw to Edward Bond. S.G.Komarov regards the parable as a genre, which has sacral roots. It is emphasized that the potential of the parable is actualized in modern and contemporary literature due to implicit or explicit Biblical archetypes and allusions to the New Testament. In the review high theoretic relevance of the monograph is outlined.