Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Thomas Shadwell: The Sentimental Characteristics Of His Comedies, Ramona Hartley Hamby

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Hobbesian Villain In Dryden's Heroic Plays, Margaret Norman Simmons

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Literary Criticism Of Shakespeare's King Lear, Daniel Lee Burcham

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

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...

A Comparative Study Of Caroline & Restoration Drama, Jane Pfingston

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The original plan for research was to make a comparative study of plays written in the twenty year span before the theaters closed and in the twenty year period after the theaters reopened - a comparative study of Jacobean and Restoration drama. However, the availability of play copies limited the number of plays read and the authors used. Therefore the twenty year plan proved to be quite cumbersome and the plays were reduced roughly to a twelve year period. The subject for research then became "A Comparative Study of Caroline and Restoration Drama."

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.

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 History Of The Children's Theatre Of Terre Haute, 1936-1948, Mary Ann Mcquillan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Renaissance Movement In The Irish Theatre, 1899-1949, Margaret Flaherty Diehl

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Obsessions And Delusions As A Tragic Device In The Major Plays Of Eugene O'Neill, Ruth Bartlett Thomas

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This introductory chapter contains definitions of obsessions and delusions, and examines the validity of these ideas as tragic devices. It discusses obsessions from the point of view of Freud and Jung.

The major plays of Eugene O’Neill have been divided into three psychological types: the first type we shall call the statement-of-the-problem plays; the second, the simple anima plays; the third, the complex anima plays. These terms and divisions will be explained as we proceed.

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 Reactions Of Critics To Modern Historical Plays, Helen Maier

Bachelors’ Theses

Within the last half dozen years there has been a revival in the writing and production of historical plays. The purpose of this thesis is to show how theatre-critics react to the outstanding plays of this type which, incidentally, nearly monopolized the boards for this period. This reaction is gauged by a study of criticisms published in a New York newspaper, two professional theatrical magazines, two non-professional magazines, and a religious magazine. The opinions studied are those of Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, John Hutchins and Edith J. R. Isaacs of Theatre Arts Monthly, Thomas Craven, …

The Little Theatre Movement In Wisconsin, Austin Norbert Robert Rodeman

Bachelors’ Theses

The decline of the professional theatre in Wisconsin, and in this country as a whole, has brought with it the rise of what is known as the Little Theatre Movement. This decline of the professional theatre has been brought about by the distraction of modern life, the cost of railroad transportation as it affects traveling companies and especially the diversion of the masses to the motion pictures. With the decline of the commercial trouping companies, many cities found themselves without any spoken drama except the synthetic production, motion pictures, which to the genuine lover of the theatre is, in a …

The History Of The Early Theatre In Kentucky, Mitchell Clarke

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to make a study of the pioneer theatre in the early days of Kentucky with emphasis laid on theatrical life in Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville. The end of the first half of the nineteenth century marks the approximate close of the period studied. Theatrical activity first thrived in Lexington and Frankfort, but soon Louisville became the most important scene of dramatic performances and more attention is given the latter city in this study. Information concerning dramatic activity in smaller towns is scarce, and it is not likely that there were many performances given in …

The History And Treatment Of The English Drama During The Sixteenth And Seventeenth Centuries, Leonard Francis Sommers

Bachelors’ Theses

Thia chapter will deal with the earlier sources of information about the dramatic companies. The provincial towns of England are the best sources of information about the English companies of drama. Reference to the drama usually appeared in the Court books of the corporation, also in the account books, or even letter-books. The reason for this is not hard to understand, for when a dramatic company visited a provincial town, their first duty was to present their license to the Mayor and also to his court of Aldermen, so that they could obtain permission to play. It is obvious therefore, …

The Significance Of The Influence Of The American One-Act Play On The Little Theatre, John H. Hennessey

Bachelors’ Theses

The purpose of this thesis shall not be t.o prove, that the American one-act play is the only possible type of drama that has a tendency toward a national drama, but rather to bring to light that the American one-act play, through the influence, which it exerted on the Little Theatre, is the driving force, which strives toward this national dramatic movement. That there is a laxity of and a need for a folk­ drama and folk-theatre is taken as an indisputable fact.

The one-act playwrights and their one-act plays are discussed, not from the aspect of a criticism of …

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, …

The Dramatic Technique Of The Theater Of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, Joseph J. Kern

Bachelors’ Theses

In this thesis I will attempt to discover the dramatic technique of the plays of Arthur Wing Pinero. Under the definition of the term technique I include chiefly the division of his plays into acts and scenes, character drawing, source of plot and treatment of plot.

Shakespere's Histories As A Dramatic Pageant Of The Middle Ages, Janice M. Wolf

Bachelors’ Theses

"When Shakespeare, Jonson, Fletcher, ruled the stage, They took so bold a freedom with the age, That there was scarce a knave or fool in town Of any note but had his picture down." But William Shakespeare has gone farther than this and has woven into his Histories a beautiful story. A story, or rather a colorful pageant that carries us back several centuries to the time when William Shakespeare lived and Queen Elizabeth ruled England. Between lines he gives us a beautiful picture of merry England and her people. He reveals the customs, beliefs, and ideas of his age …

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 …

The Secularization Of The Liturgical Play, Sylvester G. Peters

Bachelors’ Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to trace the origin and development of the drama from the liturgy of the Mass to the time of its complete secularization. I shall endeavor to show the process by which the Church itself, through the introduction of dramatic elements into its liturgy came to make its appeal to mimetic instinct, out of which grew the great popular religious dramas of the miracle plays, with its offshoots in the moralities and dramatic pageants.

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 Song In Elizabethan Drama With Particular Reference To Its Function In Shakespeare, John Joseph Plamondon

Master's Essays (1922 - )

We have approached our study of the song in Elizabethan Drama with the intention of accounting for the abundance of vocal music in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and of explaining the use of song as a dramatic device. It has been considered necessary to a proper understanding of the place of song in the Romantic Drama to give a rather broad treatment of the subject, including a brief history of the song in the English theatre, the psychology of its origin, and the cause of its decline. Methods of presenting songs have been discussed to strengthen our …

Social Analysis In The Ibsen Drama, Rebecca E. Pitts

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.