Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Christopher Fry's Contribution To Modern Drama, Jane Mcelroy

Graduate Thesis Collection

In a modern theatre increasingly preoccupied with the mundane, the sordid, the perverse, and the hopeless, Christopher Fry's plays loom like beacons~ For Hr. Fry finds the world, however chaotic, magnificent; and he chooses to explore its more civilized areas in a language undauntedly poetic, through characters cultivated enough to speak that poetry...

Jean Giraudoux, Anachronizer Of Myth, Larry Allen Fletcher

Graduate Student Research Papers

This paper will attempt to show the anachronism of setting, theme, tradition, character delineation, and speech that Giraudoux deliberately puts into his dramatic world. Only two of his neo-Hellenic plays are studied in detail tor this paper, Amphytryon 38 and Tiger at the Gates (In France called La Guerre de Trois n’aura pas lieu--The Trojan War will not take place). His third neo-Hellenic play, Electra, will be commented upon briefly. The paper will also attempt to show how Giraudoux's anachronism is used as a device to give contemporary meaning to traditional myth. The plays are considered as dramatic literature, not …

The Major Qualities Of Oscar Wilde's Comedies, Milton Woodell Hamlin

Graduate Student Research Papers

This paper will attempt to provide a comparative survey of the four comedies of Oscar Wilde (Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest) with an emphasis on the differences between the first three comedies and the last. Background material germane to Wilde's development as a playwright, and a brief evaluation of Wilde's position in English literature, largely based on his reputation as a playwright, will be included.

The Epic Theater Of Bertolt Brecht, Robert Julien Lacampagne

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

A completely new idea in any field of artistic endeavor is a rare phenomenon and is, in most instances, worthy of study. Bertolt Brecht, in his theories, writings, and productions, has given the world a theater that is the antithesis of present-day theatrical aims and ideals. It is to the study of this new form of theater that this thesis is devoted.

The Evolution Of Ibenism, Kenneth Cox

Student Scholarship

This paper explores the dramatic evolution of Henrik Ibsen, tracing his development from nineteenth-century romanticism to the realism that defined modern drama. By analyzing ten representative plays—ranging from Lady Inger of Ostrat (1855) to When We Dead Awaken (1899)—the study examines how Ibsen’s work transitioned through early historical romanticism, a middle period of social criticism, and a final phase of psychological symbolism. The author utilizes the six elements of drama defined in Aristotle's Poetics—plot, character, thought, diction, music, and spectacle—as a framework to compare these distinct periods of Ibsen’s career. 

The analysis of plot reveals a move away from the …

A Study Of The Dramatic Criticism Of Charles Lamb, Lyman Francis Smart

English Language and Literature ETDs

In the one hundred fifty years since Charles Lamb published what might be termed his first formal criticism, opinions of his stature as a critic have waxed and waned. His critical writing has been attached as the "blasphemies of a poor manic," and praised as possibly the greatest applied criticism in English. Recent critical estimates of British criticism have tended to ignore Lamb or to damn him with faint praise.

The purpose of this study is to re-examine the earlier attitudes toward Lamb and his writing on the drama, and to look with fresh perspective at the most noteworthy of …

A Historical Survey And Evaluation Of The Most Prominent Theories That Shakespeare Did Not Write The Works Attributed To Him, Lola Vida Johnson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The question of the authorship of the plays, poems, and sonnets traditionally attributed to the pen if William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon has now been before the public for over one hundred years. Many of the most noted poets, playwrights, and nobles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have been assigned the authorship of these works. The controversy can be compared to the controversy over Homer’s authorship. In 1975, Friederick Augustus Wolf proposed that Homer did not write The Iliad and The Odyssey. By 1900, Wolf had been disproven, but the question was one of great importance when it was first …

Some Differences In The Comedy Of Manners Plays From The Restoration To Somerset W. Maugham, Tressa C. Bennett

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Characters Of Two Dramatic King Lears : Shakespeare And Bottomley, Doyne Joseph Mraz

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

It has been the purpose of this study to make a comparative analysis of the most significant characters in two selections of dramatic literature: Gordon Bottomley’s King Lear’s Wife and William Shakespeare’s King Lear. The significant characters are Goneril and Regan, the “evil influence” in both plays; the two Lears, the “neutral influence” in both plays; and Hygd and Cordelia in King Lear’s Wife and King Lear, respectively. Hygd and Cordelia are the “honorable influence” in the stories.

It has been the further purpose of this thesis to delete from both plays all subplots which do not directly pertain to …

A Study Of The Elements Which Determine Man's Life As Noted In Greek And Shakespearean Drama, Wilma E. Winters

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Function Of Music In The Elizabethan Drama And Theater, Genevra H. Dvorak

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Inquiry Into The Use Of Drama To Teach History, Paul Edward Hobbs

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to show how dramatization of significant historical themes can be more easily realized in high school American history classes.

An Analysis Of The Humanism Of Euripides As Expressed In His Plays And Reflected In Selected Plays Of Modern Drama, Robert Henry English

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Because of the great importance of the human element in the drama of today we shall attempt to trace it from its first great exponent down to our times. Therefore, within the following pages we shall conduct an analysis of the humanism of Euripides as expressed in his plays and reflected in selected plays of modern drama. Our analysis, by necessity, shall have a six-fold purpose; (1) to analyze briefly the characteristics of the Attic theatre for which Euripides wrote; (2) to study the life and philosophy of Euripides in order to determine the presence of humanism; (3) to conduct …

A Comparison Of The Nineteenth And Twentieth Century Criticism Of Shakespeare's Heroines, Grace Mcleod Gartman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The nineteenth century critics appraised Shakespeare's heroines by standards different from those of the twentieth; consequently the two ages reached different conclusions. The purpose of this paper is to point out just what these differences are.

A paper of this scope had to be narrowed in some ways. Otherwise a formidable array of heroines would have been enumerated, but little depth of research could have been shown. In the general conclusion the result would have been the same, as I have discovered through wide reading. To limit the subject only the most famous heroines could be included. The process of …

An Analysis Of Production Procedures In The Stage Play Harriet, Harold Harvey Ulrici

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

It is the purpose of this thesis to present the research, planning, and actual production procedures of the play entitled Harriet, as written by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements. This is the production which was originally done by Gilbert Miller at Henry Miller's Theatre in 1943 with Miss Helen Hayes in the title role.

An Essay On Character Portrayal, Style, And Technique Of Writing In Maxwell Anderson's Biographical Plays In Verse, Henry E. Hobson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint the reader with the general scope and trend of Maxwell Anderson's work in order to give a more complete conspectus for the discussion of his plays. By so doing a foundation will be laid for a more intelligible discussion of the specific aspects of the seven plays concerned in the thesis proper, the title of which is, "An Essay on Character Portrayal, Style, and Technique of' Writing in Maxwell Anderson's Biographical Plays in Verse."

The Nativity Plays Of New Mexico, Edwin C. Munro

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

The Southwest is a region and a concept. New Mexico is an integral part of it...The Spanish folk heritage of the Southwest is a cultural resource that is highly important in the regional complex...My attempt here, then, has been to clarify and make available to more people one feature of this cultural heritage--the nativity plays.

The Technique Of Shakespeare's Early Comedies, Mary Alice Procissi

Bachelors’ Theses

In this thesis I have attempted to trace the dramatic technique of the early comedies of Wiilliam Shakespeare. As a setting for the development of my thesis, "The Technique of Shakespeare's Early Comedies" I have given a brief history of the rise of the Shakespearean drama, showing the relation of the early dramatists to Shakespeare as a writer of comedy, including also a sketch of the Elizabethan theatre. Under the definition of the term technique, I include chiefly a division of his plays into acts and scenes, character drawing, source of plot and treatment of plot.

Seventeenth Century Golden Era Of French Drama, Vera P. Duplessis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drama is a word belonging to the Greek language which means actions. It is applied to that form of literature which has action in it and is suited for performance.

A Thesis On Shakespeare, Literature's Master Dramatist, Hilda Mary Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, presents a survey of the life and dramatic works of William Shakespeare, situated within the broader history of English drama. The thesis traces English drama's origins in medieval Catholic Church miracle plays and moralities through the development of Bible drama, interludes, and early English comedy and tragedy, before turning to the Elizabethan stage on which Shakespeare wrote.

A biographical account of Shakespeare's life at Stratford-on-Avon and London is followed by a description of the physical conditions of the Elizabethan theatre, including stage construction, scenery, …

Jeanne D'Arc In Modern Drama, Mary Cordea Woelfel

Bachelors’ Theses

The Jeanne d'Arc literature provides a delightful as well as scholarly excursion that may keep the mind entranced for days, months, nay even for years. But we shall confine ourselves to a short and pointed description. We shall follow Jeanne of Domremy through five centuries of stormy upheavals, religious as well as political. We shall meet her entrancing figure, exalted and deified, maligned and reviled, in history and otherwise, in medieval and modern versions of drama and poetry. But everywhere we shall greet her as a perennial yet youthful charming figure, in American, German, and English literature, and naturally in …

Ua1b1 11th All Star Concert Series, Western Kentucky University

WKU Administration Documents

Advertisement for the 11th all star concert series hosted by WKU in 1929-1930. Features singers, musicians and lecturers:

• Estelle Gray-Llevinne
• United States Army Band
• Berger-Steindel-Aster Trio
• Gloria Randolph
• Smallman a Capella Choir
• Ratan Devi
• Chandra Dharma Sena Gooneratne
• Henri Scott
• Charles Boggs
• Melvena Passmore
• Festival Opera Company
• Howard Carman
• William Phillips
• Rhys Morgan

Shakespeare's Genius Was Essentially A Dramatic One, Marie Valentine Prudeaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, submitted to Xavier University in 1929, argues that Shakespeare's genius was essentially a dramatic one, examining his life, artistic development, and dramatic works across four periods of composition. A biographical account of Shakespeare's life at Stratford-on-Avon and London opens the study, followed by an analysis of the qualities that distinguish his genius, including originality, insight into character, and the power to portray emotion.

Prudeaux draws on the critical tradition of Dryden, Hazlitt, Johnson, Pope, and Schlegel, among others, to organize Shakespeare's dramatic output into four periods, characterized in the thesis as "In the Workshop," "In the World," "Out …

Jealousy In Shakespeare's Tragedies, Harold M. Kimball

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In undertaking a study of the theme of jealousy, one must make some limitation of material. The field of literature as a whole, or the more limited ones of drama or even tragedy - each of these is too large for so short a study as this must be. Only certain aspects of such a restricted subject as the tragedies of Shakespeare can be given any thorough treatment, while others, both interesting and profitable, must be put aside; for instance, space will prohibit a careful comparison of Shakespeare's use of jealousy with that of other dramatists; nor can a study …

The Function Of The Comedians In Shakespeare's Plays, Louise Elizabeth Tennessen

Bachelors’ Theses

There is an old adage, "It takes a wise man to make a fool", which is familiar to most of us, but the full significance of the proverb will be comprehended only after reviewing several plays in which the fools carry prominent parts. Tracing the history of the court fool back to the early and middle ages, it has been found that it was customary tor a monarch, prince or a powerful noble to have in his retinue a fool or jester, whose office it was to entertain his master and courtiers. He enjoyed privileges and liberties denied the higher …

The Symbolism And The Morality Of The Modern Drama, Florence Marie Schopps

Bachelors’ Theses

The drama has always been the mirror of the age. It is in contemporary drama more than in any other form of art that one finds the mouthpiece and the embodiments of the tur spirit of modernism. The drama of today is the drama of revolt. It opposes the tradition of the past. It is an open attack against the subject-matter, technique, and stagecraft of the drama of past centuries. It proposes changing standards of morality and uses symbolism as one of its chief modes of expression.

The Development Of The Drama From The Church, Karl V. Schoenecker

Bachelors’ Theses

In the study of the drama and especially the stage, we find that it had its death and inception in the Church. In the early stages of Christianity we find the Church condemning with great vigor all forms of stage presentations not for any destruction of art but because the stage was the visible representative of the old pagan life. Pagan ideas and culture were fostered and in the plays themselves lurked the thoughts of the old mythology.

The Development Of The Roman Theatre And Drama, And Its Relation To The Greek Drama And Culture, John F. Gminski

Bachelors’ Theses

Entering upon this treatise on the ancient theatre and drama, I will say that I had first intended to treat only of the Roman drama, and so had planned to make a critical survey of its production and development. But this I soon found to be quite ineffective as to the result for a study of ancient dramaturgy with an object of absorbing its soul. For there we first find, the theatre, the stage, which is as the art gallery of drama, to be intimately related to the drama; for drama and the theatre throughout their existence and period of …

Burgtheater. „Phädra“ Von Racine, Deutsch Von Schiller., Regine Altmann

Essays

No abstract provided.

Burgtheater. Wiederaufnahme Von Goethes „Egmont“., Regine Altmann

Essays

No abstract provided.