Danse Macabre takes Dwight’s familiar setting of a stage to satirize the rise of fascism in the 1930s. Death himself, wearing a gas mask, watches a dance of political puppet figures. From left to right are John Bull, symbol of England; Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy; Adolf Hitler, wearing swastika-emblazoned armor; Marianne, emblem of France; personifications of China and Japan; and the American Uncle Sam, passively observing. An avowed socialist and anti-fascist, Dwight’s political commentary can also be seen in Buried Treasure (1935–39), Derelicts (1931), and The Merchants of Death (1935).
