Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'On the Tragedies of Shakespeare'

This study challenges Charles Lamb's 1811 essay "On the Tragedies of Shakespeare, Considered with Reference to their Fitness for Stage Representation," which argues that Shakespeare's plays are better suited for reading than stage production. Each of the four chapters considers a specific argument Lamb raises against the theatre and the particular Shakespearean tragedy used to illustrate his point. The Hamlet chapter examines the supposed concessions involved in the actor/audience relationship. The Macbeth chapter challenges Lamb's Platonic view of Shakespearean characterization. The Othello chapter considers whether some characters and images, while acceptable to the reader's imagination, are improper on stage. Finally, the King Lear chapter considers the portrayal of the mind in the theatre, employing semiotic principles to examine the actor's expressive resources.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(人間・環境学)
甲第19078号
人博第731号
新制||人||175(附属図書館)
26||人博||731(吉田南総合図書館)
32029
京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻
(主査)准教授 桒山 智成, 教授 丸橋 良雄, 准教授 髙谷 修, 教授 依田 義丸
学位規則第4条第1項該当

This essay uses Gerard Genette’s theory of intertextuality – in particular, architextuality - in order to establish the connection between Shakespearean tragedies and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last novel, The Last Tycoon. The essay relies mainly on known Shakespeare critic A.C Bradley and the categories he uses in order to establish what makes a Shakespearean tragedy a Shakespearean tragedy. This framework will then be used to further elaborate upon the architextual connection between Shakespeare and Fitzgerald. The essay also compares the characters from The Last Tycoon directly to characters from Shakespeare’s tragedies in order to further show the intertextual connections. For example, Fitzgerald's main character Monroe Stahr is compared to Julius Caesar, from Shakespeare's play of the same name, while the antagonist Mr Brady is compared to both Cassius from the previously mentioned Julius Caesar, as well as Iago from Othello

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(人間・環境学)
甲第21167号
人博第839号
新制||人||202(附属図書館)
29||人博||839(吉田南総合図書館)
京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生文明学専攻
(主査)教授 水野 眞理, 教授 髙谷 修, 准教授 桒山 智成, 教授 丸橋 良雄
学位規則第4条第1項該当

In Mourning before Death, I discuss the representation of maternal mourning in King John, the Henry VI trilogy, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, and Coriolanus. Primarily, I explore Shakespeare’s expansion of maternal roles from his source texts, especially their lamentations anticipating the death of sons in these plays. Shakespeare emphasises the grief experienced by mothers which is largely absent in the historical accounts on which the plays are based. My research address Phyllis Rackin’s definition of females as ‘anti-historians’ and examines how mothers in mourning intrude into historical events and confront masculine authority. This study focuses principally on Shakespeare’s representation of maternal authority in terms of mother-son relationships. The introduction identifies the importance of ‘women’s time’ and physical expressions of maternal distress and the dramatic conflicts these provoke. Chapter 2 examines how Constance’s grief affects the reaction of the audience to the power struggle in King John. Chapter 3 is concerned with how Margaret’s queenship in Henry VI disrupts the development of English kingship and endangers the existing Lancastrian rule. Chapter 4 discusses the psychological and physical meanings expressed through the use of the sitting posture, a gesture which embodies the mother’s pain. Chapter 5 discusses Shakespeare’s exploration of political wildness and barbarism through his representation of Tamora’s tragic passion. Chapter 6 discusses Volumnia’s maternity and her appropriation of the Roman concept of honour. The conclusion considers the strength of maternal authority and female power in Shakespeare’s representation of maternal mourning.

Humiliation has a powerful presence in Shakespeare's tragedies and late plays. With an unusual ability to reform and redeem, humiliation is not employed in these plays as one might expect. Cast in a form much influenced by the Protestant theology of Shakespeare's England, the humiliation that falls upon some of Shakespeare's most prominent characters is one that offers great hope and clarity. Drawn from the theology of three prominent Protestant Reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Richard Hooker, humiliation in Shakespeare's Hamlet serves to save the fragile queen and her sinister new husband from certain damnation. In The Tempest Prospero is humiliated in like fashion. This experience results in a more-than-magical reformation that turns the island into a place of reconciliation. King Lear's humiliation cures his faulty vision, allowing him to recognize a true love that pursues him with great passion and sacrifice. In Henry VIII the great Cardinal is averted from certain damnation, humiliation drawing him from a life of violence and manipulation. The jealous tyrants in The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and Othello are powerfully humiliated. This humiliation allows Leontes, Posthumus, and Othello to be released from their fearful bondage, at last made capable of seeing the true love of their wives. This thesis casts significant new light upon how much Shakespeare was influenced by the Protestant Reformation. Through a detailed examination of the use of theological language and concepts in the plays examined, this thesis argues that Reformation theology affords a powerful lens through which to read the journeys of the protagonists in Shakespearean tragedy and late plays. This powerful lens of Reformation theology brings to focus the way in which Shakespeare transforms, with great mastery, the humiliation of a man into the redemption of a soul.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 1980.
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Kada je profesor renesansneknjiževnosti na UCLA dr Majkl Alen krajemprošlog i početkom ovog veka počeo daobjavljuje svoje prevode dela Marsilija Fičinasa latinskog na engleski jezik, moglo bi se rećida je započeo novo poglavlje u šekspirologiji.Neuporedivo veća dostupnost ovih,svojevremeno izuzetno uticajnih, a umeđuvremenu gotovo zaboravljenih tekstovadovela je do obnove interesovanja književnokritičkihkrugova za fenomen poznat kaorenesansni neoplatonizam, praćene povećanomsvešću o tome koliko je sveobuhvatan isveprožimajući uticaj koji je ovaj neobični ieklektički sistem misli ostvario na Šekspirovadela, kao i dela mnogih njegovih savremenika.Renesansni neoplatonizam, iako niranije nije bio nepoznat šekspirolozima, dugo je bio zanemarivan pri tumačenjima Šekspirovihdela – posebno onih „ozbiljnijih“ – kao suvišemarginalan ili, u najboljem slučaju, suvišeoptimističan skup ideja o harmoniji kosmičkihsfera. Detaljnije čitanje Fičinovih tekstova, kaoi dela drugih neoplatoničara i njihovih drevnihizvora, pruža neprocenjiv uvid u „mračnu“stranu neoplatonizma, ali i „mračnu“ stranuŠekspirovih „mračnijih“ drama.Ovaj uvid nije zanimljiv samo saaspekta tumačenja književnosti. Šekspirovodoba, koje se sada najčešće naziva ranimmodernim periodom upravo iz tog razloga, dobaje u kome su utemeljeni mnogi kulturni obrascikoji su i dalje u opticaju. Upravo su Šekspirovadela u velikoj meri poslužila kao provodnik zaveliki broj tih obrazaca zbog široke i dugotrajnerecepcije koju su uživala.Polazeći od pretpostavke da se bazičnimetafizički koncepti mogu lako prenositi iugrađivati u temelje raznih ideologija unajširem smislu te reči i da su stoga njihovoiznošenje na površinu i analiziranje posebnozanimljivi i korisni, ova disertacija za svojfokus uzima jedan metafizički koncept koji činiosnovu renesansnog (a i svakog drugog)neoplatonizma. Taj metafizički koncept jestehijerarhijska i gotovo uvek rodno determinisanadihotomija duh/materija, čije se „mračnije“manifestacije u renesansnom neoplatonizmučesto zanemaruju ili pogrešno pripisujuhrišćanskim uticajima.Cilj ove disertacije je da se identifikujuoni aspekti Šekspirovih dela – pre svegatragedija i takozvanih „problemskih drama“ –koji su u saglasju sa dualističkom metafizikomrenesansnog neoplatonizma, zatim da seznačenja tih aspekata analiziraju u okviru temetafizike, te da se time iznađu daljeimplikacije ne samo za tumačenja Šekspirovihdela, već i za bliže razumevanje čitave našecivilizacije, koja bi se, pre no posthrišćanskom,moga slobodno nazvati postneoplatoničarskom.Kao hipoteza se postavlja očekivanje daće dualistički koncepti koji potiču izrenesansnog neoplatonizma biti pronađeni nanekolikim nivoima Šekspirovih odabranihtekstova, od zvučnog, preko metaforičkog, doalegorijskog. Daleko od toga da ponudinekakvo konačno tumačenje Šekspirovih dela,ova analiza će, nadamo se, prosto povećati brojnjihovih mogućih interpretacija.Metodi koji će biti korišćeni sueklektični. Najčešće će se koristiti klasičnakomparativna analiza – s jedne strane,metafizičkih sistema dostupnih Šekspiru putemrenesansnog neoplatonizma i, s druge strane,Šekspirovih dela (pre svega tragedija itakozvanih „problemskih drama“). Stavoviautorki i autora koji pripadaju feminizmu,novom istorizmu, dekonstrukciji i psihoanalizibiće citirani, a neke tehnike u okviru ovih školatumačenja korišćene pri daljoj analizi. Uznatnom delu disertacije koristiće sefeminističko čitanje metafizike, jer jeutvrđivanje rodno zasnovanih hijerarhija istereotipa jedna od implikacija metafizičkogdualizma duha i materije.Prva tri poglavlja ove disertacije suuvodna, od čega drugo i treće pružaju kratkiosvrt na razvoj dualizma duh/materija i samogkoncepta materije kroz istoriju evropskefilozofije i religije. Koncept femininodeterminisane, haotične i mračne materije,suprotstavljen konceptu maskulinodeterminisanog, racionalnog i svetlog duha,prati se u drugom poglavlju od svojih začetakau orfizmu, dionizijskim i eleuzinskimmisterijama i pitagorejskom pokretu, prekosvog najuticajnijeg proponenta Platona injegovih sledbenika, sa posebnim osvrtom naneoplatoničare, do mnogobrojnih dualističkihpokreta koji su pod njihovim direktnim iliindirektnim uticajem nicali diljem antičkog isrednjovekovnog sveta. Radikalni iliemanativni, prokosmički ili antikosmički,dualizam duha i materije – prenošen kroz spise iusmena učenja hermetičara, gnostika,manihejaca, bogumila i katara, pa katkad i krozsamo hrišćanstvo, koje mu je zvaničnosuprotstavljeno – pokazuje se kao neprekinutanit u istoriji evropske civilizacije.Treće poglavlje bavi se dualizmom duhai materije u renesansnom neoplatonizmu.Eklektičan, kompleksan i imanentnoparadoksalan fenomen poznat kao renesansnineoplatonizam nastaje kao rezultat snažnogistovremenog upliva više tipova dualizma ujudeohrišćansku misao – Platonovi rukopisistižu u zapadnu Evropu zajedno sa rukopisimaneoplatoničara i hermetičara, ali i pravim, živimkabalistima – koji sa oduševljenjem prihvataju,prisvajaju i prerađuju tzv. „hrišćanski“neoplatoničari na čelu sa Marsiliom Fičinom. Uokviru renesansnog neoplatonizma može seizdvojiti nekoliko sasvim različitih i međusobnonekompatibilnih struja: „čist“ neoplatonizam,magija, alhemija, gnosticizam, kabala ihermetizam. Sve one, bile prokosmičke iliantikosmičke, imaju u svojoj osnovi rodnodeterminisan hijerarhijski dualizam duha imaterije i, u najmanju ruku, ambivalentan odnosprema telu i kosmosu, a u odnosu na samumateriju – odnosno, šta se sa njom može ilimora činiti – mogu se uočiti tri široke kategorijekoje se mogu ilustrovati kroz primerdualističkih alegorijskih tumačenja mita oNarcisu.Plotinovo viđenje Narcisa kao prikazduha prevarenog  sopstvenim odrazom u kaljuzimaterije poredi se sa gotovo identičnim, alidrugačije percipiranim događajem opisanim uhermetičkom spisu Pimander, gde je pad duha umateriju u kojoj se ogleda opisan kao kreativničin ljubavi iz koga nastaje kosmos. Takoantikosmički nastrojeni Plotin moli čitaoca dase vine ka pravom duhovnom izvoru svog lepoglika, jer je druga opcija pad u kal materije.Treća opcija, koju nudi prokosmičkihermetizam, jeste ljubavni spoj duha i materijeu kom superiorni ali benevolentni maskuliniduh svojevoljno svojim odrazom formirainferiornu ali prijemčivu femininu materiju.Ove tri opcije se ogledaju u Šekspirovimdelima u centralnom delu disertacije (poglavlja4-9), koji se sastoji od komparativne analizepristupa materijalnom i telesnom u, s jednestrane, različitim strujama renesansnogneoplatonizma i, s druge strane, Šekspirovimdelima, najpre tragedijama i problemskimdramama.Pojedinačna poglavlja središnjeg deladisertacije bave se mogućim pristupimamateriji, ali takođe i mogućim koracima najednom neoplatoničarskom putu krozmaterijalni svet.Taj put počinje u „Tamnici“, kojom sebavi četvrto poglavlje. Istraživanjeantikosmičkih stavova prema materijalnom itelesnom u Šekspirovim tragedijama iproblemskim dramama dovodi do zaključka dasu oni u skladu sa antikosmičkim učenjimagnostika, manihejaca, bogumila, katara, ipesimista među neoplatoničarima. JunaciŠekspirovih tragedija i problemskih drama(Hamlet, Romeo, Kleopatra, Lir, Gloster, TitAndronik) svet i telo eksplicitno doživljavajukao tamnicu duše, a često se takva osećanja ipoređenja javljaju u doslovnim tamnicama (kaošto na svojoj koži iskuse Ričard II, Lir,Malvolio, Klaudio i Barnardin). Mora seprimetiti da su antikosmički stavovi kodŠekspirovih junaka najčešće posledicanekakvog šoka ili razočarenja.Mikrokosmosi drama kao što su Hamlet,Magbet, Kralj Lir i Mera za meru mogu se čitatikao alegorijski prikazi neoplatoničarskog paklau kome vlada haos mračne materije, a njihovivladari-uzurpatori kao zločesti demijurzi.Primećuje se dvojaka subverzivnost – ureligijskom i političkom smislu – korišćenjafigure kralja kao demijurga, kao i činjenice dapomoć utamničenima u njegovom mračnomdomenu uvek dolazi spolja, obično u figuridoketskog Hrista, koji dolazi da probudiuspavane iskre (Vojvoda u Meri za meru, duhHamletovog oca, Kordelija u Kralju Liru).Kada se svet posmatra kao tamnica čijije glavni tamničar lažljivi uzurpator, samaakcija postaje problematizovana i lako se nailazina stav da je kontemplacija bezbednija i čistijaopcija. Tako se Hamletov čuveni solilokvijmože čitati i kao suprotstavljanje opcije „biti“ ufiksnom, nepromenljivom duhu opciji „ne biti“u fluidnom i iluzornom svetu stalnog nastajanjai nestajanja materije. Mnogi Šekspirovi junaciizbegavaju da uprljaju ruke i odriču se svega,između ostalog i ljubavi, zarad viših ciljeva(Hamlet; Vojvoda, Izabela i Anđelo u Meri zameru).Ovo se u sledećem poglavlju,„Uznošenje“, pokazuje, opet uneoplatoničarskom diskursu, kao potencijalnopogrešan korak. U neoplatonizmom inspirisanojrenesansnoj teoriji ljubavi, čiji su najuticajnijipropagatori Fičino i Bruno, upravo se krozerotsko dostiže božansko, ali uz bitnoupozorenje da erotski poticaj mora dolaziti odnebeske, a ne zemaljske Venere, i da ne smeimati za cilj brak ili, još gore, blud. Narcis kojise ogleda u baruštini materije mora znati da jezaljubljen u sopstveni lepi odraz, a ne u tu baru,i mora se vinuti naviše, ka čisto duhovnombožanstvu kome je suštinski istovetan.Analizom Šekspirovih dela se utvrđuje da seprimeri uspešnog erotskog uzdizanja odmaterijalnog i telesnog mogu naći uglavnom ukomedijama, dok je u mračnijim dramamafigura nebeske Venere uvek bar donekleproblematizovana, kao što je to Dezdemona uOtelu. Takođe se dolazi do zaključka da je erosdualizma po definiciji narcisoidan, jer je uvektežnja istog za istim – duha za duhom,razdvojenim samim od sebe Drugim materije – ida je ovakva idealizovana ljubav, bilo semanifestovala homoerotski ili heteroerotski (aobe manifestacije se mogu naći kod Šekspira)neumitno neprijateljski nastrojena prema svakojstvarnoj ženskoj osobi pojedinačno i ženskomtelu uopšte.Poglavlje „Enoza“ bavi se stanjem kojepredstavlja krajnji cilj dualističke erotskežudnje, a to je mistično potpuno utapanje svakeiskre u svoje božansko izvorište. Svrhanarcisoidnog erosa dualizma se ispunjava takošto se maskulini duh sjedinjuje sam sa sobom.Iako je nijedna pravoverna monoteističkareligija ne priznaje kao legitimni cilj vernika,enoza je eksplicitno postavljena kao ishodištesvake duše u Fičinovom sistemu „hrišćanskog“neoplatonizma, bilo kao ishod čistekontemplacije ili vatrene žudnje. Kod Šekspirase figura enoze javlja uglavnom u ovomdrugom obliku, i to nikada bez poveće dozeambivalencije prema erotskom. Antonijevdijalog sa Erosom ilustruje nekoliko aspekataerotske enoze: brisanje granica izmeđuljubavnika i voljenog, onostranu prirodu„istinske“ ljubavi, povezanost seksualnosti ismrti, konačno nepostojanje identiteta iništavilo smrti kao krajnji cilj i ishod svakežudnje. Ovi aspekti se dalje istražuju i ilustrujukroz svoje manifestacije u Šekspirovimtragedijama i problemskim dramama (Hamlet,Romeo i Julija, Otelo, Troil i Kresida, Mera zameru, Julije Cezar, Timon Atinjanin). Zaključakje da Šekspir uvek zadržava ambivalencijuprema erotskom i da se svaka erotska smrt možetumačiti i kao enoza i kao pad.Sedmo poglavlje, „Silazak“, bavi seonim što se zbiva kada Narcis, zavedenodrazom svog duha u njima, zakorači u vodematerije. Fičino i Bruno su u svojim teorijamaljubavi jasni: ukoliko ljubavnik napravi kobnugrešku i posegne za telom osobe za koju mu seučini da ga erotski privlači, umesto da se,inspirisan njenom lepom formom, vine kačistoti duha odakle ta forma potiče, upašće upakao materijalnog. Zemaljska Venera možepod maskom nebeske zavesti naivnog i nevinogljubavnika i odvući ga u dubine materijalnogsveta, naizgled nudeći mu mogućnost uzleta kanebeskim visinama. Za to je dovoljna jedna noćprovedena sa njom. Ovaj zaplet se može naći, urazličitim varijacijama, u mnogim Šekspirovimdelima: Sve je dobro što se dobro svrši, Troil iKresida, Mera za meru, Romeo i Julija i Otelo.U svima je dovoljna jedna noć provedena sanjom da se nebeska Venera volšebnotransformiše u zemaljsku – čista Dijana ubludnu Jelenu, devica u kurvu – i utamničizlosrećnog ljubavnika u telesnost braka ilibluda, ili, još gore, na samo dno pakla ženskeseksualnosti, u haotično ništavilo pramaterije.Osmo poglavlje, „Ništavilo“, bavi seupravo onime što se nalazi na dnuneoplatoničarskog kosmosa – ništavilom koje seistodobno otkriva kao neoplatoničarska primamateria. Ona je uvek feminino determinisana –u neoplatonizmu je Hekata identifikovana samaterijom, a figura Hekate se i umikrokosmosima Šekspirovih mračnijihkomada pokazuje kao prava vladarka paklenogdomena zločestog uzurpatora (Ledi Magbet,Tamora, pa čak i Gertruda). Femininadeterminisanost pramaterije ogleda se kodŠekspira i u višeznačnom i često ponavljanomglasu, ili slovu, ili cifri – „O“ ili „0“ – kojemože biti matematički izraženo ništavilopramaterije, ali i oznaka za vaginalni otvor.Ovom višeznačju doprinosi i činjenica da se reč„nothing“ („ništa“), uvek zlokobno značajna rečkod Šekspira, mogla u jeziku ŠekspiroveEngleske koristiti u oba smisla. „O“ je i oznakaza matericu u kojoj se ljudsko biće, potadašnjim teorijama, zdušno prihvaćenim odstrane neoplatoničara, materijalizuje od očevogduha i majčine materije, i time materinstvodobija izrazito negativan prizvuk. Majka je takoja doprinosi materiju u procesu reprodukcije,čineći nas time smrtnim i pravdajući čestupovezanost figura materice i grobnice(„womb/tomb“), kao i očajnički pokušaj nekihjunaka – primerice, Koriolana – da se odmaterinskog tela radikalno odvoje, što čestodovodi do nasilnog i krvavog vraćanja u njega.Neoplatoničarska majka, pokazuje se, čestoproždire sopstvenu decu.U mnogim tragedijama se junak suočavasa pramaterijom koja se pojavljuje doslovnouobličena u „O“: primeri za ovu figuru supaklena jama u šumi višestruko povezana saTamorom i vaginalno determinisana u TituAndroniku, grobnica Kapuleta u Romeu i Juliji,veštičiji kotao u Magbetu, kao i vaginalni pakaokroz koji prolaze Lir i Timon u svojoj mašti.Hamlet se spušta u tri gradirana ponorapramaterije u svojoj istrazi o tome odakle dolazitrulež u Danskoj: Ofelijina, zatim Gertrudinaodaja, i na kraju otvoreni grob u koji uskače.Suočavanje sa materijalnom osnovom kosmosa,premda u tragedijama uglavnom najviše služitome da ilustruje paklene dubine do kojih sejunak i/ili njegov svet srozao, može dovestijunaka i do neke vrste regeneracije i ponovnogrođenja, kao što je slučaj sa Lirom.Suočavanje sa neformiranom materijommože dovesti neoplatoničarskog junaka i doprokosmičkih tendencija: može poželeti da u tajmračni haos unese red i lepotu forme iz višihkosmičkih sfera. Time se bavi poslednjepoglavlje centralnog dela disertacije, nazvano„Teurgija“. Narativ iz Pimandera oprimordijalnom duhovnom Čoveku kojiogledanjem u njenim tamnim vodamasvojevoljno daje formu voljenoj materijalnojPrirodi je, u kombinaciji sa Jamblihovomteorijom teurgije, dao podsticaj Fičinu daosmisli sopstvenu, i pored svog stalnoambivalentnog stava prema bilo kakvojinterakciji maskulinog duha sa femininommaterijom. Teurgija – koja može obuhvatatirituale, praktičnu magiju i alhemiju, ali i druganeimenovana delanja – nalazi se naprokosmičkom ekstremu neoplatonizma, kaoaktivan napor svakog pojedinca da uvede red ukosmos i, kao demijurg, i sam formira materijukoja mu je na raspolaganju.Kod Šekspira se primeri uspešneteurgije uglavnom mogu naći u kasnijimkomadima (takozvanim „romansama“), doktragedije i problemske drame obično prikazujuobrnut proces, u kome se kosmos svodi na haospramaterije. Ubijanje ili uklanjanje uspešnihteurga, koji održavaju red na svim nivoima –pojedinac, država, kosmos – dovodi do padačitavog domena u haos, kao što se može videti uMeri za meru, Hamletu i Magbetu. Figurauspešnog teurga ili maga oslikava se kaoneoplatoničarsko sunce koje oplođava i formiramrtvu materiju, dajući joj život, kao što je slučajsa solarnim kraljem Dankanom. Uspešan teurgje dobar kralj, otac, oličenje božanstva, što seistražuje kroz metaforu kovanja novca, koje,kao davanje svog lika i forme bezobličnommetalu, kao pravo pripada upravo ovimfigurama. Lirova izjava da sme da kuje novacpošto je on kralj se, međutim, može čitati i kaoizjava bilo kog teurgijski nastrojenog pojedinca,jer po metafizici prokosmičkih struja uneoplatonizmu svaka iskra duha ima pravo iobavezu da formira materiju po svomuzvišenom liku i uvodi poredak u nju.Prokosmički dualizam se time pokazuje kaopotencijalno politički i religijski čaksubverzivniji od antikosmičkog.Teurgija kao koncept je, dalje seprimećuje, ugrađena u nekolike diskriminatorneideologije: mag može figurirati kao kolonizatorkoji civilizuje inferiornije, telesnije,materijalnije „varvare“ ili kao krotitelj, opet,inferiornijih, telesnijih, materijalnijih žena. UBuri se, recimo, jasno vide oba procesa, kao iparadoks po kome je muškarac koji menja ikontroliše prirodu (Prospero) moćni mag, dok ježena koja čini to isto (Sikoraks) zlokobnaveštica.Ženske figure se u slikama vezanim zateurgiju javljaju u dve najčešće varijante. Uprvoj su predstavnice feminine materije, koja uprokosmizmu može biti „dobra“ ukoliko jedovoljno poslušna i prijemčiva kontroli iformiranju od strane maskulinog duha, koji timepostaje direktno odgovoran za nju, što dovodido pojačane anksioznosti. Neposlušna materijaje kod Šekspira često predstavljena kroz figureneposlušnih žena. Analiziraju se zanimljiveslike u kojima se pobuna kćerki (Šajlokove iLirovih) opisuje kao pobuna materijalnog itelesnog protiv duha koji daje život.Potencijalno neposlušna žena, doživljena kaopreviše materijalna i telesna jer aktivnimiskazivanjem ljubavi pre braka (Dezdemona,Julija, Kordelija) daje signal ocu i/ili mužu dajoj je požuda preča od dužnosti, može bitiodbačena, i tu se oslikava druga varijantaženske figure – kao spone kosmosa.Naime, Šekspirovi junaci, koji usledimanentne paradoksalnosti neoplatonizmanikada ne mogu znati kako se odnositi premaženskim figurama, često prave i grešku upravosuprotnu, ali isto tako fatalnu, kao što je padpred požudom zemaljske Venere, a to jeodbacivanje ženske ljubavi iz straha da je upitanju puka požuda. Ispostavlja se da je taljubav, kao što je slučaj u Kralju Liru i Otelu,ali i Zimskoj bajci, bila neoplatoničarski zlatnilanac ljubavi, spona kosmosa, koja ga je držalau harmoniji, a da bez nje haos pramaterijeponovo dolazi. Šekspir ovime dekonstruišedihotomiju ljubav/dužnost, i to koristećineoplatoničarsku metafiziku, u kojoj su obapojma sinonimi za harmoniju kosmosa kojuodržava uzvišena božanska ljubav. Kodelijinodgovor Liru da ga voli „according to my bond“(dužnost i spona su samo neka od mogućihznačenja ove reči) time dobija dodatne mogućeinterpretacije.Još jedna dihotomija koju Šekspirdekonstruiše upravo putem neoplatoničarskemetafizike jeste, u njegovo doba popularna,umetnost/priroda. Umetnost se – u smislu svegaumetnog i artificijelnog i svakog umeća, veštinei delanja koje uređuje i menja datost – čestosuprotstavljala „Bogom danoj“ prirodi upokatkad žestokim debatama, od kojih su nekeumele da potkače i pozorište. Ono po čemu seneoplatonizam razlikuje od pravovernihmonoteizama jeste, između ostalog, dvojakostshvatanja prirode i neinsistiranje na njenojnormativnosti. Dve prirode u neoplatonizmu,viša i niža, duhovna i materijalna, aktivna ipasivna, korespondiraju sa Venerom i Hekatom,a ova podvojenost prirode se najizrazitijeispoljava u Kralju Liru, ali se njenemanifestacije mogu naći i u Hamletu i Magbetu.Viša priroda koja kultiviše nižu kao što vrtlarkultiviše vrt – što je česta figura, kako kodrenesansnih neoplatoničara, tako i kod Šekspira– poistovećuje se sa umetnošću.Pozorišna umetnost kao ogledalo prirodeu Hamletovoj izjavi može se uneoplatoničarskom ključu čitati i kao teurgijskoupodobljavanje niže prirode višoj, a ne samokao puki mimetski prikaz čulne stvarnosti.Dramaturg se tako pokazuje kao teurg kojionom materijom koja mu je na raspolaganjumanipuliše e da bi i nju (svoje glumce,scenografiju i pozorište) i publiku transformisaoi preuredio po liku više prirode koja je njemu,po platoničarskim teorijama božanske poetskeinspiracije, dostupnija. Dok u tragedijamateurgijske umetničke tendencije ostajuneispoljene, a njihovi nesuđeni agenti (kao štosu Lavinija u Titu Androniku i Kasio iDezdemona u Otelu) obogaljeni i/ili ubijeni,usled čega kosmos ponovo postaje haos, uromansama se pojavljuju i uspešni umetniciteurzi.Paulina u Zimskoj bajci i Prospero u Burisu možda najbolji primeri, koji svojim„nadilaženjem“ prirode i ukazivanjem na višuistinu putem pozorišne iluzije pokazuju da jedramaturg verodostojniji stvaralac oddemijurga.Posle kratke rekapitulacijeparadoksalnih i često međusobnonekompatibilnih tumačenja Šekspirovih dela naosnovu aspekata metafizičkog dualizmapreuzetog iz renesansnog neoplatonizma, uzaključku ove disertacije predlaže se detaljnije idublje izučavanje uticaja neoplatoničarskogkoncepta materije, kao i dihotomijeduh/materija, na dalju književnost i kulturu.Ovo bi moglo da ima implikacije za studijeknjiževnosti, ali i studije kulture, rodne i kvirstudije.
We have in the past two decades, owingto the recently appearing translations of Ficino’sworks into English, witnessed a revival ofinterest in the phenomenon known asRenaissance Neoplatonism. Although notunknown to Shakespearologists, RenaissanceNeoplatonism has long been neglected ininterpretations of Shakespeare’s works –especially the “darker” ones – as an overlymarginal, eccentric, or optimistic concoction ofnotions on the harmony of the spheres. A deeperreading of Ficino’s texts, as well as those ofother Renaissance Neoplatonists and theirancient sources, offers an invaluable insight intothe “dark” sides of both Neoplatonism andShakespeare’s “darker” plays.This insight is also intriguing for areasof research other than literary criticism. It was in Shakespeare’s age – now usually referred toas the early modern period precisely for thisreason – that many of our own current culturalpatterns were shaped, and Shakespeare’s workscertainly served as one conduit. Using as itsstarting point the assumption that basicmetaphysical concepts can with great ease betransferred over time and space and built intothe foundations of differing ideologies in thebroadest sense of the word, and that unearthingand analyzing them is therefore an especiallyrewarding and useful endeavor, this dissertationchooses to focus on a metaphysical conceptwhich lies at the very basis of (Renaissance)Neoplatonism. The metaphysical concept inquestion is the nearly invariably gendered andhierarchized spirit/matter dichotomy, whosemore sinister and “darker” manifestations inRenaissance Neoplatonism have frequently beenneglected or misattributed to Christianinfluences.The aim of this dissertation is to identifythose facets of Shakespeare’s darker plays –primarily his tragedies and “problem plays” –that resonate well with the dualistic traditionsextant in Renaissance Neoplatonism, analyzetheir possible meanings within the contextsoffered by these religious and philosophicalsystems, and hopefully discover their furtherimplications for understanding bothShakespeare and certain aspects of so-calledWestern cultures. The hypothesis is that thedualistic concepts derived from RenaissanceNeoplatonism will resonate well with parts ofShakespeare’s work, revealing in theiroriginative context further notions illuminatingfurther meanings attributable to Shakespeare’stext and our cultural atmosphere, many of whichwill be paradoxical and contradictory – muchlike Renaissance Neoplatonism itself.The central portion of this thesis consistsof a comparative analysis of approaches to thematerial and the carnal existing in, on the onehand, various branches of RenaissanceNeoplatonism, and, on the other, Shakespeare’swork, primarily his tragedies and so-called“problem” plays. The individual chapters dealwith possible approaches to matter and alsopossible steps along a Neoplatonic journeythrough the material world. This journey beginsin “The Prison,” where the hero experiencesthose Neoplatonic sentiments that are on theanti-cosmic end of the spectrum. This, manyNeoplatonists would hope, can induce him toattempt an “Ascent” towards the purely spiritualspheres. This ascent is often also inspired byfemale figures stripped of all carnality. Theultimate goal of Neoplatonic ascent is“Henosis,” in which the hero becomes one withthe One. If the hero is not careful, allowinghimself to be lured downward by carnal femalefigures, or if he is very adventurous indeed, hecan instead begin a kenotic “Descent” into thedepths of matter. This descent will allow him toface the “Nothing” of formless prime matterwhich is at the basis of the cosmos and his ownmortal body. Faced with it, he will, someNeoplatonists would hope, realize that it is thisnothing that everything comes from, and willstrive to help the spiritual forces in the universe,of which he ultimately is one, form it lovingly.This is known as “Theurgy.”As predicted, the analysis shows that thedualistic concepts originating from RenaissanceNeoplatonism can indeed be found on severallevels of Shakespeare’s “darker” plays. Farfrom providing definitive answers to questionsraised by Shakespeare’s work, the profferedanalysis, as expected, merely increases thenumber of its possible interpretations.It is concluded that the Neoplatonicconcept of matter and its spirit/matterdichotomy exerted a formative influence notonly on Shakespeare and his age, but the agesthat followed as well, our own included. Thisinsight offers implications for further researchnot only in literary criticism, but also cultural,gender and queer studies.

My thesis investigates the functions of dreams and sleep within Shakespeare’s wider design of comedy and tragedy. Methodologically, it combines its focus on genre with a strong historicist component in order to reconstruct the early modern understanding of dreams and sleep that influenced Shakespeare’s approach to this material. Comparing Shakespeare’s representations of dreams and sleep with those in classical culture, from which dramatic genre, dream theory, sleep theory, and the deployment of dreams within comic and tragic structures originally derive, I argue that Shakespeare uses devices of dreams and sleep to support his deviation from those classical conventions of comedy and tragedy that he found incompatible with his aspiration towards a fuller, darker, and more complex representation of human nature, behaviour, and character. To that effect, I discuss how dreams and sleep in Shakespeare’s comedies introduce tensions that are neither resolved nor absorbed by the respective endings; and I show how dreams and sleep in the tragedies and tragic histories help emphasise human agency and responsibility at the expense of the ideas of fortune and supernatural determinism found in classical tragedy.

This thesis offers a significant reappraisal of the relationship between Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and the genre of domestic tragedy. In situating these tragedies in the context of portrayals of disrupted homes in cheap print, I explore social, spatial, ideological, and psychological constructions of the domestic in early modern England. I demonstrate how Shakespeare uses these constructions to stage how societal and familial pressures shape individual agency; how the integrity of the house is associated with the body of the housewife; and how household transgressions render the home permeable. Chapter One examines how the political analogy of the household with the state is negotiated in three shrew-taming plays, in ways that prefigure Shakespeare’s appropriations of domestic tragedy. Chapters Two, Three and Four explore these appropriations: Chapter Two argues that Shakespeare transfigures popular conceptions of adulterous murderesses in creating the figure of Gertrude; Chapter Three traces how Othello stages the relationship between domestic enclosure, female chastity, and illicit privacy; and Chapter Four suggests that Othello and Macbeth borrow dramaturgical tropes from domestic tragedies in staging household murder. Chapter Five compares Macbeth’s use of popular conceptions of withcraft with the later borrowings of The Witch of Edmonton, and argues that Shakespeare and Rowley, Ford, and Dekker use similar sources, to divergent effects. The innovations of domestic tragedy challenge the distinctions of early modern generic theory, showing how the transgressions of those in subordinate gender and class positions can attain tragic stature and threaten the security of the state. This thesis argues that in Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth, Shakespeare creates new versions of domestic tragedy, using heightened language, foreign settings, and elite spheres to stage familiar domestic worlds. I thus propose a new way of understanding Shakespeare’s tragedies, domestic tragedy, and the significance of the disrupted home in early modern culture.

This dissertation will argue that the early modern theatre and the early modern church were both concerned with keeping the attention of their audiences, and that one of the ways that dramatic interest in Christopher Marlowe's and William Shakespeare's plays was generated was by staging acts that can be read as ambiguous, interrupted, failed or parodic confessions, prayers, and sermons. In particular, I will argue that when the characters in Marlowe’s and Shakespeare’s tragedies fail to find solace in acts that model reformed devotional practices, they eventually suffer the strange but dramatically engaging consequences of their tragic passions like despair, hatred, jealousy, fear, and rage. This dissertation, then, will bridge the turn to religion and affect studies as a means of arguing that early modern tragedy was consumed with attracting, and sustaining, the dramatic attention of the audience. While it is not possible to say, with any finality, why tragedies hook an audience's attention, it is possible to suggest how Marlowe's and Shakespeare's tragedies used the passions generated by the failure of model devotional acts as a means of capturing and sustaining the attention of the audience.
Arts, Faculty of
English, Department of
Graduate

L’argument de cette recherche propose d’étudier le concept du pouvoir et ses manifestations chez les héroïnes tragiques de Shakespeare Ophélie, Desdémone, Lady Macbeth, et Cléopâtre. Cette étude suit deux axes d’interprétation, la domination et la résistance qui constituent le pouvoir féminin à travers ses productions verbales et ses projections mentales. Ces aspects sont explorés à travers une théorie de poétique cognitive et d'analyse de conversation. En parallèle, les théories critiques vont compléter la discussion des résultats trouvés. Ce travail explore comment les héroïnes tragiques de Shakespeare mènent leur propre résistance et exercent une contre-force à un poly-système patriarcal basé sur un héritage de séparation de genre. Ces personnages brossent un portrait distinctif d'héroïsme tragique féminin ; une voix indépendante et vibrante dans le texte shakespearien
The Shakespearean tragic heroines are a polemical topic. Critics are divided between a reading that describes them as complex and dynamic protagonists and a reading that sees their presence as ornamental and paper-thin in the Shakespearean dramatic tradition. This study examines tenets of power within four major tragic figures, Ophelia, Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra. Conversation analysis and disciplines from cognitive poetics, text world theory and conceptual metaphor analysis, will be used to study these characters’ utterances and thoughts. The research shows that Ophelia, Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra are actively involved in power relations. They manifest dominance, exercise resistance, and sow dissidence within masculine narratives of authority. The conclusion can also be drawn that the Shakespearean tragic heroine succeeds in breaking through patriarchal embargo, embraces power, and inaugurates a distinctive concept of female heroism

Orientador: Verônica Fabrini Machado de Almeida
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes
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Resumo: Esta tese investiga três tragédias de William Shakespeare: Tito Andrônico, Ricardo III e Macbeth, e sua relação com a construção e defesa dos direitos humanos no mundo contemporâneo. Nós estabelecemos que tanto as narrativas como o discurso das realidades apresentadas nessas tragédias elisabetanas, oferecem um material que, mediado por o corpo total, dos atores e que, expostos diante da assembléia por meio de sua atualização teatral, contribuem para a compreensão de como operam, tanto os mecanismos de poder como o circulo trágico da vingança gerando violência. Postulamos que, elaboradas em comunidade, essas obras, educam e fornecem um terreno fértil para a elaboração da memória coletiva e, assim, alcançar uma compreensão compartilhada dos fenômenos que afetam nossas convivências latino-americanas
Abstract: The present study involves research on the construction and defense of Human Rights through an analysis of William Shakespeare¿s three tragedies: Tito Andronicus, Richard III, and Macbeth, in the context of contemporary Latinamerica. We establish that both narrative and discourse and the realities presented in these Elizabethan tragedies, mediated through the "total bodies" of actors exposed to the assembly, allow a deep comprehension of how power mechanisms operate and how violence and revenge circulate in society. These plays elicit in the community a sense of pity for the pain of others and thus help us reach a shared understanding of vital issues that affect societies in Latinamrica. We believe that Aristotelic catharsis and Brechtian estrangement may occur simultaneously, experienced as emotive consciousness
Doutorado
Artes Cenicas
Doutora em Artes

The work of Shakespeare has been popular to make film adaptations of from the birth of cinema. Macbeth, one of his most often played tragedies, is no exception. But how did Shakespeare portray Lady Macbeth in his play, and how do directors in the 21th century choose to portray her for a modern audience? I will try to find the answer to these questions by analyzing Shakespeare´s play as well as three modern adaptations. I will begin the thesis by looking at scholars´ view in questions regarding gender, free will, adaptations and genre before analyzing the play and the three movies. I will do this so in order to make comparisons between the play and the three adaptations. My conclusion is that Shakespeare wrote Lady Macbeth as a strong woman, an “unwomanly” woman of her time. The three adaptations also portray her as a strong woman, but in three different ways. I cannot draw any overall conclusions as this thesis is a subjective interpretation of text as well as picture, but further analysis of more adaptations of Macbeth can perhaps verify what has been stated in this thesis.

Orientador: Suzi Frankl Sperber
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: A presente dissertação tem por objetivo propor um diálogo entre duas obras dramáticas de grande significância, Ricardo III e As Troianas, no cânone de seus autores, respectivamente, William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) e Lucius Annaeus Sêneca (4 a.C - 65 d.C). A premissa inicial é a relação tradicional entre ambos, que atribui ao tragediógrafo elisabetano uma influência textual, temática e estilística originária do filósofo e tragediógrafo latino. Para o estudo dessas relações, limitadas ao escopo de duas obras, o trabalho foi dividido em três partes. No primeiro capítulo é realizado um percurso sobre toda a historiografia da crítica da influência que Sêneca teria exercido sobre os dramaturgos que escreveram durante a segunda metade do século XVI, na Inglaterra. Observa-se, principalmente, como a visão e a metodologia de se tratar o tema da influência se altera, ao longo dos anos, chegando, por exemplo, a ser negada por alguns críticos durante certo tempo, além da observação do delineamento do próprio objeto. Toma-se o cuidado, durante todo o trabalho de não fazer opção a favor ou negar a presença de Sêneca para não incorrer em extremismos. No segundo capítulo, busca-se, com base nos resultados do primeiro capítulo, a leitura histórica dos elementos temáticos e estilísticos lidos como derivados de ou influenciados por Sêneca. Neste ponto o foco distancia-se do campo de discussão crítica do fenômeno para o campo de crítica histórico-literária e os objetos focados, agora, são exatamente aqueles que anteriormente foram levantados como ?"senequianos". No terceiro capítulo, conhecida a história da influência e tendo sido feita uma gama de opções e leituras sobre a época de Shakespeare, inicia-se a leitura das duas obras. Tal abordagem preambular se fez necessária para que houvesse um embasamento tanto da crítica da discussão da influência, como da leitura histórica da cultura que produziu Ricardo III. Foi feita a opção de seguir com a leitura de René Girard sobre os conceitos de Teoria Mimética e Crise de Diferenças, pois tocam em noções basilares do mundo Elisabetano, apresentando, portanto, uma atmosfera na qual os diálogos poderiam situar relações de aproximação e afastamento entre a dupla de obras escolhida. Observa-se uma leitura mítica, muito rica politicamente, ao trabalhar com a história/mito conhecidos por ambas as obras
Abstract: This dissertation aims to propose a dialogue between two dramatic works of great importance, Richard III and Trojan Women, both canonic for their authors, respectively, William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) and Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD). The initial premise is the traditional relationship between them, which presupposes that the Elizabethan tragedies have textual, thematic and stylistic influence of the Latin philosopher and tragedian. In order to study these relationships, restricted to the scope of the two referred plays, the dissertation was divided into three parts. The first chapter is about Seneca's influence on playwrights who wrote along the second half of the sixteenth century in England. It focuses mainly the vision and methodology used to study the issue of influence and changes of views over the years, reaching, for example, the fact that the influence was denied by some critics for some time. It also observes the outline of the object - the relation between plays - itself. Along these considerations, I was aware that I should not propose or deny the influence of Seneca in order not to incur in extremism. The second chapter, based on the results of the first chapter, seeks to read the historical interpretation of stylistic and thematic elements as derived from or influenced by Seneca. At this point, the analysis moves away from the critical discussion to approach the field of historical and literary criticism. The focused objects are exactly those that have previously been raised as "senequians", like the blank verse, the tyrant and the presence of ghosts. In the third chapter begins the interpretation of both tragedies. This preliminary approach was necessary in order to have a critical foundation for the discussion of influence, as that one produced by historical reading of Richard III. The mimetic theory of René Girard and the Crisis of Differences offered fundamental notions for the Elizabethan world, which presented interlocution between both tragedies, so that it was possible to examine approaches and distances between the two chosen plays. It was observed a very rich mythical and political relation among the plays using the known versions of history/myth
Mestrado
Teoria e Critica Literaria
Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

Property involves the possibility for men tocontrol their surroundings. Part of this control involves  the  exclusion of others from the benefits produced by their controlled goods.The possibility to exclude or not to excludeothers allows or prevents an efficient use of goods. So the tragedy of the commons ariseswhen there are no rights of exclusion; and the tragedy of anticommons, where there is anexcess of exclusion rights.In this article, the author makes a complete analysis of the tragedy of commons and anticommons, in relation with property rights, pointing out the differences and similarities between both of them, their presence in everyday life and their relevance in our legal system.
La propiedad nace con la posibilidad del hombre de controlar aquello que lo rodea. Parte de este control implica la exclusión de los demásrespecto de los provechos que se obtienen delbien controlado. La posibilidad o no de excluira los demás permite o impide un uso eficientede los bienes. Así surge la tragedia de comu-nes cuando no existen derechos de exclusión;y la tragedia de anticomunes, cuando hay unexceso de derechos de exclusión.En el presente artículo, el autor realiza un completo análisis de la tragedia de comunes y anticomunes en relación al derecho de propiedad, indicando las diferencias y semejanzas entre ambas, su presencia en la vida diaria, y su relevancia en nuestro ordenamiento jurídico.

Error is significant for Shakespeare because of its multiple, flexible meanings and its usefulness in his drama. In the early modern period it meant not only a ‘fault’ or ‘mistake’, but ‘wandering’. ‘Wandering’, through its conceptual relation with metaphor, plot and other devices, aligns error much more with the literary, which dilutes the negative connotations of mistake, and consequently error has the potential to become valuable rather than something to be corrected. Shakespeare’s drama constantly digresses and is full of complex characters who control and are controlled by error. Error is an ambiguous concept that enables language and action to become copious: figurative language becomes increasingly abstracted and wanders away from its point, or the number of errors a character encounters increases, as in The Comedy of Errors. The first chapter argues that error is problematically gendered, that women’s language is often represented as being in error despite being the defenders of the ‘mother tongue’, the guardians of the vernacular. The containment of women in this paradox is necessary for a sense of national identity, that women must pass on the unifying English. The second chapter argues that foreign language becomes English error on the early-modern stage. Shakespeare subverts this tendency, inviting in foreign language for the benefit of the play and, in the context of the history play, of the body politic. The third chapter argues that in The Comedy of Errors, textual indeterminacy and error increases the thematic error of the confusion of the twins. Error is not something to correct automatically without altering the meaning of the play. The fourth chapter argues that the setting of the wood and its wandering characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream licenses the error of figurative language that wanders away from straightforward speech. The fifth chapter argues that the expansive category of genre falls into error in Cymbeline. The genre turns irrevocably from romance to a satire of James VI and I’s vision of the union. What emerges from the analysis of these permutations of error is that, in Shakespeare’s hands, error is not just a literary device. Error is valuable linguistically, dramatically, politically and textually; in order to understand it, we must resist the ideology of standardisation that privileges what is ‘good’ and ‘correct’. Attending to Shakespearean error demonstrates the need to think beyond the paradigm of the right, and attend to the political implications of ‘wrongness’ and its creative literary employment.

Poisonings are the staple of revenge tragedies of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and contrary to a common perception that poison is a female weapon, male characters are often portrayed as the main perpetrators. I argue in this thesis that the plays discussed show a distinct type of male poisoner who employs poison as a weapon in a way that effeminises and emasculates them. I shall explore the character traits of this distinct male poisoner in six revenge tragedies: Hamlet, The Tragedy of Hoffman, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Tragedy of Claudius Tiberius Nero, The Second Maiden’s Tragedy, and Albovine, King Of The Lombards. I will attempt to demonstrate that there are two categories of male poisoner: one is the heterosexual male who poisons others because of ambition, lust, or revenge (for example, the Duke in The Revenger’s Tragedy or Claudius in Hamlet), the other is the distinct male poisoner who acts in ways more associated with females than with males; and it is these characters that I focus on in this thesis. These distinct male poisoners are not just represented as effeminate, but are shown forming close homoerotic relationships with other males through their language and actions; in effect, these male poisoners take on the subordinate role of the female within these relationships. My contribution to knowledge is to bring attention to this distinct type of male poisoner and demonstrate that, while not all male poisoners are presented as identical to each other, all these insidious characters have deficient manhoods that are empowered by poison.

In the four early modern revenge tragedies I study, Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy, and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, the ubiquitous depictions of corporeal violence underscore the authors’ skepticism of the human tendency to infuse bodies – physical manifestations of both agency and vulnerability – with symbolism. The revengers in these plays try to avenge the death of a loved one whose disfigured body remains unburied and often continues to occupy a place on stage, but their efforts to infuse corpses with meaning instead reveal the revengers’ perverse obsession with mutilation as spectacle. In Chapter one, I show how in The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd portrays the characters’ assertions of body-soul unity to be arbitrary attempts to justify self-serving motives. Although Hieronimo treats Horatio’s dead body as a signifier of his own emotions, he displays it, alongside the bodies of his enemies, as just another rotting corpse. In Chapter two, I explore how in Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare questions the efficacy of rituals for maintaining social order by depicting how the play’s characters manipulate rituals intended to celebrate peace as opportunities to exact vengeance; Titus demands human sacrifice as not just an accompanying element, but a central motive of rituals ostensibly intended to signify commemoration. In Chapter three, I read The Revenger’s Tragedy as illustrating Thomas Middleton’s characterization of the depiction of corporeal mutilation as an overused, generic convention; the play’s revenger, Vindice, attributes multiple, constantly shifting, meanings to the rotting skull of his lover, which he uses as a murder weapon. In Chapter four I argue that in The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster destabilizes spectators’ interpretive capacities; within this play’s unconventional dramatic structure, the main characters use somatic imagery to associate bodily dismemberment with moral disintegration. Corpses, the tangible remains of once vigorous, able-bodied relatives, serve as central components of respectful commemoration or as mementos of vengeance, yet these dead, often gruesomely mutilated bodies also invite repulsion or perverse curiosity. Thus, rather than honoring the deceased, revengers objectify corpses as frightening spectacles or even use them as weapons.

In this thesis I explore the affinities between Seneca's tragic plays and pantomime, arguably the most popular dramatic genre during the Roman Empire, but relatively neglected by literary critics. The research is thus designed to make not only a significant contribution to our understanding of Seneca's tragic art (especially through the explanation of formal features that depart from the conventions of fifth-century Attic drama and have long puzzled scholars), but also to Imperial performance culture more generally. In particular, I hope to shed light on the interaction between so-called 'high’ and 'low' forms of artistic endeavours at the time, which previous scholarship has tended to overlook.

This thesis is a comparative study of how Shakespeare&rsquo
s ideas transcend the boundaries of his own time and still remain as the major sources of inspiration for modern dramatists. Arnold Wesker and Eugé
ne Ionesco explore the concept of the "
other"
leading to loss of identity and awareness of non-being embedded in Shakespeare&rsquo
s works. The main argument is that the contemporary playwrights reinterpret Shakespeare&rsquo
s works in the light of some modern issues and ideas to reveal the entrapment of the individual.

Philosophizing Shakespeare explores the impact of Classical virtue ethics on Shakespeare's dramatic art, particularly his art of characterization. By focusing on the vernacular tradition of practical virtue ethics in Renaissance England – a tradition importantly distinct from institutional Latin philosophizing, but equally bound up with Aristotle's ethical thought -- I maintain that vernacular moral-philosophical writings share Shakespeare's interest in the dynamics of situated moral reasoning, particularly within the domains of social and domestic life. This practical, worldly emphasis, I argue, represents the foundation for ethical decision-making and for ethos (moral character) in Shakespeare. Philosophizing Shakespeare therefore argues for the importance of thinking about Shakespeare's characters as moral agents, while also demonstrating some of the historical and philosophical roots to the concept of moral agency in Shakespeare's England.By contextualizing practical English-language moral-philosophical writings within the tradition of Renaissance Aristotelian thought and, in particular, the critically neglected strain of vernacular Aristotelianism in the Renaissance, Philosophizing Shakespeare builds on recent historical scholarship by Charles Schmitt and David Lines, who have recast Aristotle as a formative though eclectic influence on Renaissance European culture until well into the seventeenth century. At the same time, I consider Shakespeare's use of Aristotelian philosophical ideas as a typically eclectic kind of adaptation. In my discussion on The Merchant of Venice, I propose that Shylock is animated by a concept of virtue quite distinct from Aristotle's, but nevertheless just as central to his motivation as a character and behavior within the play. By focusing on the philosophical problem of akrasia (weakness of the will or moral incontinence), I also emphasize ways in which plays such as The Winter's Tale problematize Classically modeled selves.
Ma thèse Philosophizing Shakespeare explore l'impact de l'éthique de la vertu classique sur l'art dramatique de Shakespeare, à savoir sur l'art de sa caractérisation. L'éthique de la vertu pendant la renaissance anglaise comprend une vaste sélection d'écrits et d'écrivains, des interprètes de Thomas d'Aquin aux pamphlétaires. Dans cette thèse, je me focalise sur la tradition vernaculaire de l'éthique de la vertu pratique en Angleterre de la Renaissance – une tradition qui est particulièrement distincte de la philosophie latine institutionnelle, mais qui est également coincé par la pensée éthique aristotélicienne. Contrairement à la philosophie académique, les écrits vernaculaires de la philosophie morale s'inscrivent à l'intérêt de Shakespeare pour la dynamique du raisonnement moral dans des situations spécifiques, particulièrement dans les domaines de la vie sociale et domestique. Cette emphase pratique et mondaine représente le fondement pour le savoir décisif éthique et pour l'ethos, ou le caractère moral, celui-ci étant présent dans des manuels de comportement en anglais et des traités sur la santé humaine et l'émotion. Je propose ici qu'il existe un lien considérable entre la conception de soi offerte par la philosophie morale articulée par ces écrivains et la caractérisation shakespearienne des individus tels que Shylock. A travers l'exploration ce qui constitue l'analyse des personnages de Shakespeare comme ayant une conception éthique, je me focalise sur les manières dont les notions de vertu servent de source de ce qui s'avère être une orientation hautement idiosyncratique pour les personnages de Shakespeare. Ainsi, je fournis un contexte pour leurs choix pratiques qui dote ces choix et leur comportement d'une signification morale. En plaçant les écrits de la philosophie morale en langue anglaise dans le contexte de la tradition de la pensée de la Renaissance aristotélicienne, et en particulière, dans la trop négligée variété d'aristotélisme vernaculaire pendant la Renaissance, je me base sur l'érudition de Charles Schmitt et David Lines, qui ont reformulé Aristote comme ayant une influence formatrice, quoique éclectique, sur la culture européenne de la Renaissance jusque le dix-septième siècle était bien entamé. A la fois, nous considérons l'usage de Shakespeare des concepts philosophiques aristotéliciens comme une espèce d'adaptation typiquement éclectique. En se focalisant sur des problèmes philosophiques tels que l'acrasie (l'incontinence, ou la faiblesse de volonté), l'auto déception, et l'excès émotionnel, les chapitres individuels de ma thèse se concentrent sur les manières dont les pièces de Shakespeare représentent en même temps que problématisent des « soi » façonnés classiquement.

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.
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Cette these s'efforce de montrer qu'une partie de la production theatrale shakespearienne gagne a etre envisagee a la lumiere du manierisme. Il s'agit de cinq pieces ecrites entre 1599 et 1604: jules cesar, hamlet, troilus et cressida, tout est bien qui finit bien et mesure pour mesure. Cette reevaluation s'appuie sur une definition du manierisme elaboree a partir d'un corpus representatif de plusieurs tendances du manierisme italien (raphael, michel-ange, le rosso, le pontormo, le parmesan, le bronzino et le tintoret. ) la definition s' articule autour des deux figures structurales de la disparite et du decentrement. Elle manifeste que l'artiste a le souci de valoriser sa propre maniere et d'exhiber les pouvoirs de l'art. Dans les arts visuels, le moment manieriste s'affirme contre les ideaux de la haute renaissance. Au theatre, avec shakespeare, il s'affirme contre une dramaturgie aux formes et aux contenus heterogenes mais marquee par le formalisme rhetorique. Othello signe la fin du moment manieriste de shakespeare car cette esthetique narcissique et joueuse se revele incapable de susciter les emotions fortes qu'on attend de la tragedie.

The purpose of this project was to determine if it was possible to take Shakespeare's text and, preserving the language, present it in a way which would make it more accessible to a modern audience. It was also important to maintain the appropriate acting style and technique that distinguishes classical acting.

This dissertation explores Aischylos' telling of myths from the Trojan cycle. Aischylos worked extensively on the story of the Trojan War in his lost corpus. He came across the stories in epic songs and brought them from epos to theatre, some of them for the first time. However, although his material came primarily from the Epic Cycle, he also drew on other sources such as Hesiod, lyric poetry and early tragedy. His reception of the stories was not passive. Aischylos endorsed but also adapted and sometimes rejected elements that he found in the earlier tradition and by doing so he reshaped many of the stories. Though the texts are long since lost, we can still detect many innovations in Aischylos' treatment of the Trojan war. The new elements that he inserted have various functions and objectives. Some may have served to minimise the distance between the mythical world of epos and that of his contemporary audience, with adjustments to the myth to make it conform to the value system of his own era and reflect ideas, social structures and politics of fifth century Athens. Some changes are meant to increase the tension in the stories and make them more shocking in order to generate stronger feelings among the audience. Passion, pain and loss were magnified to serve the purposes of the poet where needed. Aischylos' creative re-writing of one of the greatest and most famous stories in antiquity made an impression on fifth century Athens, as its reception in literature and art in general suggests. His impact on subsequent tragedy in particular, both Greek and Latin, is evident though individual poets reacted in different ways to his work, his influence could not be ignored.

This thesis reconstructs the Attic and Republican fragments of lost Thyestes tragedies, in order to track the development of the revenge theme through the tragic tradition. Here I reconstruct Sophocles' and Euripides' Thyestean plays by analogy with each tragedian's extant corpus by comparing extracts that resemble the fragments in language and content. To develop an understanding of Thyestes' myth in Attic tragedy, I consider references to Thyestes and his ancestors in the tragedies featuring his descendants, providing points of contrast with Seneca's extant Thyestes. When reconstructing the Republican fragments of Ennius' Thyestes and Accius' Atreus, I consider the quotation context of the fragment, be it in Cicero, the grammarians or later scholia, in order to examine the themes in the surviving lines and their reception. This allows me to explore how the use of Thyestes' myth in the political texts of the Roman Republic shaped Ennius' Thyestes, Accius' Atreus and, in turn, Seneca's Imperial Thyestes. Though I contextualise these fragments in the trend of Thyestes tragedies written by minor Roman tragedians, often politicians, the few fragments of these tragedies and the political careers of the tragedians prevent me from reconstructing them here, since they are not indicative of changing presentations of revenge in tragedy more broadly. Similarly, I have not included sections on the fourth-century Greek fragments of Thyestes tragedies here, given that little in the surviving fragments pertains to the revenge theme. Though my complete monograph would include these 'minor' tragedians, for the purposes of the comparative methodology set out in this thesis I have included the best known playwrights of Thyestes tragedies. This has allowed me to incorporate fragmenta incerta, fragments from mythically relevant tragedies and a discussion of the texts in which the fragments are quoted to provide a more detailed understanding of Thyestes' myth before Seneca. Ultimately, by reconstructing Atreus' motives, supernatural influences and the presentation of Thyestes' feast in Sophocles', Euripides' Ennius' and Accius' works, this thesis argues that Seneca's Thyestes is not a uniquely violent revenge play.

Since Shakespeare was introduced to China at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Chinese have translated the English playwright's plays and performed them on the Chinese stage either in the form of spoken drama or the traditional Chinese opera. No matter which approach is chosen to perform the dramatist, it is an intercultural form in introducing him to the Chinese.

ABSTRACT SHAKESPEARE&rsquo
S HAMLET AS A PRECURSOR OF THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD Dogan, Buket M.A., in English Literature Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ü
nal Norman May 2008, 121 Pages Being regarded as a dramatist of all times, Shakespeare and his work is studied with a modern view point by many critics. Every historical period finds in him what it is looking for and what it wants to see. Shakespeare is part of a modern tradition trying to mirror human psychology and condition in all its absurdity. The innovations that the theatre of the Absurd has brought to the stage not only provide an influence for the works of the later generations but also, they make it possible to look back at the past works of the theatre with a contemporary critical eye. Shakespeare&rsquo
s vision of the world is similar to that of the absurdists, mainly due to their shared confidence in humanity&rsquo
s capacity to endure, and the precarious nature of human existence. This thesis analyzes Shakespeare&rsquo
s masterpiece Hamlet, mainly the drama of its protagonist, as a precursor of Absurd drama. In Hamlet, Shakespeare represents man&rsquo
s existential anxiety and precarious condition in a nonsensical world, which is stripped of all logical explanations and accounts. To examine the play in the context of the theatre of the Absurd, it will be discussed in relation to Samuel Beckett&rsquo
s Waiting for Godot and Endgame with regard to their common concerns for the themes of the theatre of the Absurd such as uncertainty and inertia.

Unlike most Asian nations to which Shakespeare was imported with the colonizers during the mid-1800s to impose Western literary culture on the colonized, in the case of Thailand, it is the other way round. Thailand (or Siam as it was called then) managed to escape colonization by Western powers, but during this politically unstable period, Siam felt the urgent need to westernize the country. A period of intensive westernization thus began. Shakespeare arrived as one of several significant elements of the nation’s self-westernization in literary education. In 1916, the name of Shakespeare became widely known in Siam as one of his plays, The Merchant of Venice, was translated by King Vajiravudh (1881-1925), who is highly regarded as a prolific dramatist and all-around man of letters in the country. The King himself initiated Western literary translation by translating three plays by Shakespeare, namely The Merchant of Venice (1916), As You Like It (1921), and Romeo and Juliet (1922), and also by adapting Shakespeare’s Othello (1925) into a Siamese conventional dance drama playtext. Although there were some other attempts before and after the King to translate Shakespeare, none of them has been successful in leaving a memorable impact in Thai literary circles as much as the King’s version. Translating and staging Shakespeare’s works in Thailand became rare, practised only within a small circle of literary scholars. During the first few decades of the twentieth century, there have been a handful of attempts to translate and stage Shakespearean plays by commercial Thai theatre practitioners. To stage Shakespeare’s plays in Thailand especially in a contemporary context, most production teams have encountered a similar difficulty, that of bridging the gap to bring Shakespeare to Thai popular audiences who embrace different backgrounds in dramatic practice and aesthetics. The main purposes of this study are, therefore, to examine how Shakespeare has been translated, staged, and received by Thai readers and audiences from the late nineteenth century when Shakespeare was introduced in Siam until today, and to locate his influences and impact on Thai literary and theatrical culture. This study is designed to shed light on the history of Thai translations of Shakespeare and also to provide an analysis of the translation strategies adopted by early Thai translators to domesticate Shakespeare into the Thai context. So the thesis examines the process of text appropriation and domestication adopted by Thai translators and theatre practitioners to make Shakespeare accessible to Thai readers and popular audiences. The use of Shakespeare’s plots and allusions to Shakespeare’s plays in contemporary Thai television soap operas is also another main focus of the study. This study also suggests that the domestication process applied to Shakespeare both in translation and in staging is influenced by the changes in the social, political and aesthetic contexts of each different period; furthermore, the process of domestication obviously becomes less problematic the further the country moves towards westernization.