I. L. Caragiale was brilliant in the art of comedy, so that the temptation to leave the author's prose in the shadow of the theatre lasted for a long time. However, right from the start there was an attraction to his prose, an attraction that can be explained by the universe created by the author, by the novelty of the epic formula, by the issues addressed, by the world view or by the artistic credo. The complexity of the writer's epic universe and his openness to multiple perspectives of interpretation explain the growing interest in Caragiale. It is true that, over the years, there have been voices that have objected to the artist's work, some milder, others harsher, but none of them have been able to stand up to the monumental creation, which from the very beginning bears the hallmarks of perenniality.
Thus, Caragiale's prose, in all its diversity, has attracted prestigious names, who have competed in grasping, appreciating, commenting and debating this field of the writer's creation. Thousands of pages of literary history and criticism, studies, analyses, essays, articles, dictionaries, anthologies, documents, biographical investigations, reprints, have been devoted to Caragial's work, bearing famous signatures, starting with Titu Maiorescu, Gherea, G. Ibrăileanu, Eugen Lovinescu, Paul Zarifopol, Pompiliu Constantinescu, G. Călinescu, Șerban Cioculescu, Vladimir Streinu, Tudor Vianu, Silvian Iosifescu, Iorgu Iordan, Ștefan Cazimir, B. Elvin, Mircea Tomuș, Alexandru Călinescu, Maria Vodă Căpușan, Florin Manolescu, Dumitru Micu, George Munteanu, V. Fanache, Mircea Iorgulescu, H. Zalis, Liviu Papadima, Eugen Simion, Nicolae Manolescu, Gelu Negrea, Paul Cornea, up to Ion Vartic, Marta Petreu, Adriana Ghițoi, Ioana Pârvulescu, etc., without including here all the names of those who approached Caragialian literary prose from different perspectives.
It has often been said about Caragiale, and it is true, that he can be considered a national writer, his work being representative of the Romanian spirit, but also a universal writer, he created general valid situations and human types that can be found in any society. Contested by many, who eventually recognized his merit, Caragiale remains a modern writer, his plays are still successful today and his work is widely read and studied. Any discussion of Caragiale must begin with an overview of the great writer's life and work. An important place in Caragiale's creative plan is occupied by theatre. That is why in this paper we will analyse four of the best known Caragialian comedies. In Caragiale's theatre, appearances hide the tragic essence of the human condition. The playwright creates true human types, ready to compete with those existing in universal literature. Caragiale's great merit is his obsessive care for language (whether verbal or gestural). The writer himself confessed: "Theatre is a constructive art, whose material is the conflicts that arise between people because of characters (...) joy laughs in living eyes, pain cries in real tears (...)".
A Lost Letter is a comedy of social and political mores, written by the Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale, in 1884, published in the magazine "Convorbiri literare", XVIII (1885. The comedy A Lost Letter is divided into four acts. The text is conceived as a dynamic succession of lines, and the main mode of exposition is dialogue. The author's interventions, i.e. stage directions or captions, are usually present at the beginning of the comedy, of an act, or are interspersed with the lines. They refer to the setting of the action, the status of the characters, their mimicry and gestures, etc., and use description and narration as modes of exposition.
