Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1913. / "Index of bibliography in foot-notes": p. [81]-82.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 133-140.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 513-541).

Inaug.-diss.-Greifswald. / At head of title: Deutsche philologie. "Erscheint gleichzeitig in 'Form und geist', arbeiten zur germanischen philologie, herausgegeben v. Lutz Mackensen; Leipzig (H. Eichblatt verlag) 1927." Lebenslaut. "Literaturangabe": p. [6]-8.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Film and Video. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MR00975

Theses (M.A .)--Marshall University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains xiii, 89 pages. Bibliography: p. xiv-xv.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Appendix: leaves 119-135. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-137). Also available on microfilm.

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This thesis brings the performativity of William Shakespeare’s plays into focus; in presenting an alternative approach to his works, I show how literary criticism can be reinvigorated. Dramatic works demonstrate that, in their theatrical world, everything is mutable, and capable of evolving and changing, negating stability or reliability. Why, then, should what I term monogeneric approaches (forms of analysis that allocate one genre to plays, adopting a priori ideas as opposed to recognising processes of dramatic construction) to criticism remain prevalent in Shakespearean scholarship? Performativity, as defined by Judith Butler, is a concept that focuses on the dynamic constitution of a subject, rather than on the end result alone (whether ‘female’ for gender, or, for example, ‘comedy’ for plays). In establishing an analogical relationship between the performativity of gender and the performance of dramatic works, I offer new, interpretive possibilities for dramatic works, moving away from monogeneric methods. Constructing a method of analysis based on performativity allows an approach that recognises and privileges dramatic dynamism and characterisation. The role of female characters is vital in Shakespeare’s works: we see defiant, submissive, calculating, principled and overwhelmingly multifaceted performances from these characters who, I argue, influence the courses that plays take. This thesis joins a conversation that began in 335BCE with Aristotle’s Poetics. In acknowledging and interrogating previous scholarship on genre in Shakespeare’s works, I trace monogeneric themes in analysis from Aristotle, through A.C. Bradley, through to later twentieth- and twenty-first-century critics. I challenge the practice of allocating genre based on plot features, including weddings and deaths; such actions are not conclusively representative of one genre alone. To enable this interrogation, I establish relationships between theories such as Nicolas Bourriaud’s work on artistic exchange; Jacques Derrida’s hypothesis on participation and belonging; and feminist research by scholars including Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. Performance analysis is a vital component of this thesis, alongside textual analysis. In a number of cases, multiple performances of a dramatic work are considered to illustrate the fascinating variety with which the text is translated from page to stage and the impact of different directorial decisions. I use the term ‘textual analysis’ to include the varying editions of Shakespeare’s plays, and to consider that every Complete Works publication is not, in fact, complete. The existence of quarto texts makes clear an important process of dramatic evolution, particularly when dramatic works and their allocated genres shift between quarto and Folio versions. Such textual instability highlights the difficulties inherent in applying singular identities to dynamic works. In locating performativity at the core of dramatic works and emphasising the key role of female characters, this thesis brings performance to the fore and presents an alternative ‘lens of interpretation’ for readers, watchers, teachers and scholars of Shakespeare.

Four plays of the medieval comic theatre of Japan, Kyogen , are presented here in English translation; Fujimatsu, Chigiriki, MlkKazuki, and Hachiku Renga. The plays all deal with the medieval comic linked verse form of poetry, Haikai no Renga. They were selected for the insight which they offer into both art forms. The analysis introducing the plays discusses the similarities between the Haikai no Renga and Kyogen in terms of historical development and aesthetic attributes. The translations were made as literal as possible, relying on the collection of Kyogen plays by Koyama Hiroshi, Kyogen Jo, Ge. Koyama based his collection on a text of the Okura school, the Yamamoto Azuma Jiro hon. This is the text currently used by the Okura school in performance. Because of the terseness of the original scripts, the analysis of the plays is supported in large part by observations of actual performances of the plays in Japan. This was thought to be valuable in that the plays depend heavily on mime for their humor. Chapters I through IV present the analysis of the four plays. The plays themselves comprise the final section of the paper. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate