In this thesis I examine the representation of parents and schoolmasters and the conflicts between them in vernacular drama in Reformation England. This was a period of growth in public schooling and a time when numerous treatises on education and childrearing were in circulation in England. Prevailing pedagogical theory privileged the schoolmaster's authority over that of the parents, and set paternal authority over that of the mother. It sought to limit maternal power to the domestic sphere and the infant years, yet the drama examined here suggests that mothers, not fathers, were usually the parent in control of their children's education. The conflicts inherent in these oppositions are played out in drama dealing with schooling and childrearing; each of the works examined here participates in and contributes to public debate over school education and parenting practices in early modern England. The thesis conducts a close textual and contextual analysis of the representation of schoolmasters and parents and of parent-school relations in seven English plays. A variety of dramatic genres is represented: public drama (Love's Labour's Lost, Patient Grissill, The Winter's Tale), school drama (Nice Wanton, July and Julian, The Disobedient Child), and private royal entertainment (The Lady of May). The plays are explicated in terms of the Tudor school culture and the negotiation of authority between fathers, mothers and schoolmasters. The thesis draws extensively on sixteenth-century school dialogues and vulgaria and on education treatises, which were available in English in Tudor England, in particular the writings of Erasmus, Vives, Ascham, Mulcaster, Elyot, Brinsley and Becon. School records provide information on school conditions and curricula, the duties and qualities of schoolmasters and the role of schools in civic and public performances. The thesis addresses issues of gender, childrearing, public education and parental and pedagogical authority in the second half of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

abstract: The original-practices movement as a whole claims its authority from early modern theatrical conditions. Some practitioners claim Shakespeare in many ways as their co-creator; asserting that they perform the plays as Shakespeare intended. Other companies recognize the impossibility of an authorial text, and for them authority shifts to the Renaissance theatre apparatus as a whole. But the reality is that all of these companies necessarily produce modern theatre influenced by the 400 years since Shakespeare. Likewise, audiences do not come to these productions and forget the intervening centuries. This dissertation questions the new tradition created by using early modern performance practices, asking how original-practices theatre is situated and arguing that though the desire to rediscover the past fueled the movement, the productions actually presented are in negotiation with modernity. The dissertation begins by looking at the rhetoric surrounding the original-practices movement, then at the physical aspects of early modern performance recreated for modern stages and the desire for material authenticity. This project also explores the ways in which race and gender play key roles within Shakespearean texts presented on stage, and argues that while gender occasionally has attention called to it, race is nearly always ignored to the point of whitewashing. I argue that because these companies insist on the universality of Shakespeare, they need to examine and deal with the racism and sexism inherent within the plays. Finally, this project explores the influence original-practices productions exerts upon audiences, including aspects such as attendees' expectations, architectural spaces, and performance, and argues that together, these elements lead to a far more cohesive and responsive audience than that which is found at traditional theatre performances. This interactivity and group mentality can lead to thrilling theatre, but can also pose dangers in the form of positive responses to xenophobic, racist, or misogynist elements within the texts, acting as early-modern audiences did and reifying those negative stereotypes and prejudices. While original-practices theatre includes the danger of being something only of historical interest, it also presents opportunities for exciting, progressive theatre that reaches audiences who do not typically go to see Shakespeare or other performances. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2013

My dissertation explores the presence of physiognomy, which is the reading of faces and bodily affects to determine a person’s character. I investigate plays originally produced for the early English stage, ranging from the late Middle Ages to the Restoration. In this work I argue that the bodies within the selected plays exist as texts that are to be interpreted by readers and audience members alike. While embodiment theory has done excellent work in explaining the corporeality of the pre-modern body, it does not consider the body as a textual construction. My work aims to fill such a gap. My main methodology is historicist, both old and new. I employ the former insofar as I incorporate primary texts relevant to understanding physiognomy and its workings on the early English stage. I also use New Historicism since I cover many influences on physiognomy, including theology, politics, and philosophy of the mind. The first chapter probes the York Cycle’s biblical play The Conspiracy, as well as the morality play Mankind. I claim that physiognomy highlights the participatory aspects of both plays, as each contains bodies that help audiences learn of true piety. In the second chapter, I discuss Shakespeare’s problem plays All’s Well that Ends Well and Hamlet. I posit that the genre of problem play can best be understood as including works that contain incomplete or inaccurate physiognomic readings. For my final chapter, I analyze the tragicomedies Marriage a-la-Mode, by John Dryden, and The Widow Ranter, by Aphra Behn. I insist that examining the physiognomic readings can help us unite the dialectics between and among the multiple plots within each play. Over the course of these three chapters, I conclude that the body-as-text, understood through physiognomy, allows modern readers to better grasp pre-modern understandings of internality as it evolved from the Middle Ages to the Restoration. In addition, I contend that genre often dictates the ways in which bodies are constructed textually. In summary, the contributions of my work can be listed as the following: (1) I provide examples of how physiognomy can be used to support a variety of methodologies, including Marxism, feminism, and deconstruction. (2) I offer a more thorough history of physiognomy, ranging from the late Middle Ages to the Restoration. (3) My work with genre is unique among current scholarship that engages with physiognomy. In my conclusion, I suggest paths forward with this project, such as the use of other methods for interpreting the body as a text, consisting of anatomy, physiology, and allegory.

In this dissertation, I investigate the textual tradition of the Cretan tragedy Erofili by Georgios Chortatsis (16th century). The play, accompanied by a set of four Interludes, has survived in three manuscripts and two editions, all originating from the 17th century. All the witnesses are examined and presented thoroughly, both as autonomous texts and in comparison to each other. The examination of each witness separately sheds light not only on the history of the transmission of Erofili, but also to the production of manuscripts and printed books in Crete, the Heptanese and Venice in general. As far as the condition of the text is concerned, three witnesses preserve the most reliable texts: the second edition and the two manuscripts originating from Crete. The investigation of their relationship shows that two groups can be identified: one includes the two Cretan manuscripts and another one the three other witnesses. Νo important alterations in the plot and the sequence of events are found, so the textual variation concerns mainly the phrasing. There are indications that variation among the witnesses might have resulted from revisions by the playwright himself. The evaluation of the two groups of witnesses shows that it is not possible to consider one of them as superior, and this leads to the question which would be the most appropriate editorial method. Previous editors have followed the eclectic approach, which has many positive aspects, but cannot help the readers to realize all the stages of the transmission of the play. Since various theoretical approaches have appeared during the last decades, it has been understood that no edition can be called “definitive” and that editions following different methods can address different questions and achieve different aims. Erofili, and other texts with a rich and complicated textual tradition, can be edited in various ways and each edition can offer new insight in the history of the production, transmission and reception of the work.

This dissertation examines social mobility as treated in stage comedies and litigation records circa 1603-1625. It argues that, in a historical context where rising in the world often awakened disapproval, stage representations of advantageous marriages negotiated cultural debates concerning socioeconomic change, political hierarchy, and individual aspirations. To understand the diverse meanings of social advancement, this study traces the discursive and narrative resemblances between two sets of texts: nearly two hundred Star Chamber cases that contested marital status incompatibility, and plays by Middleton, Jonson, Chapman, and their peers that dramatize intense competitions for marriages that could elevate characters in wealth and prestige. Pierre Bourdieu provides methods for approaching the multi-dimensional early modern social field with its many forms of status, and Frederic Jameson offers ways to consider the relation of fictional narratives to social and ideological problems. Using these theorists to align the two sets of texts, this dissertation reveals how London's theaters offered complex fantasies of achievement that balanced individual ambition against prevailing assumptions about gender, status, and social order. The Introduction traces relevant historical contexts, while Chapter One outlines the polyphonic features of the texts under investigation and culminates in an analysis of George Chapman's use of multiple temporal schemes in The Widow's Tears to represent a fantasy marriage as both an upstart's rise and a dynastic renewal. Chapter Two examines legal records to reveal how victims of alleged courtship frauds evoked a broad cultural script that represented social exogamy as a threat to the ruling elite. Chapters Three and Four focus on masculinity, arguing that both male defendants and playwrights like Thomas Middleton and Lording Barry responded to the cultural contradictions of social mobility by privileging alternative metrics of masculine worth and alternative trajectories of advancement. Chapter Five shows how female defendants positively rearticulated available negative stereotypes about women, especially servants, marrying up; in similar fashion Ben Jonson's The New Inn portrays a maidservant's engagement to an aristocrat as a triumph of merit. Finally, the Appendix examines one extensive case in which dozens of witnesses variously interpreted the scandalous elopement--or kidnapping--of a rich London woman. / 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z

No description available.

Mehrdeutigkeit ist ein grundsätzliches Merkmal literarischer Texte. In der Literaturwissenschaft wird dieses Charakteristikum allerdings häufig undifferenziert als ‚Komplexität‘, ‚Ambivalenz‘ oder ‚Ambiguität‘ bezeichnet. Auch in der Shakespeare-Forschung, besonders aber bei kontrovers diskutierten Texten wie Henry V und Julius Caesar, tauchen diese Bezeichnungen schlagwortartig immer wieder auf. Oft jedoch stellen sie Verlegenheitsformulierungen dar, die mehr verdecken als sie erklären. Die vorliegende Studie widmet sich dem Phänomen textueller Ambiguität und betrachtet sie – entgegen verallgemeinernden Auffassungen – als ein vom Autor bewußt eingesetztes und damit funktionales gestalterisches Mittel, das sowohl mikrostrukturell als auch auf der größeren Textebene angesiedelt sein kann. Die Untersuchung stellt in einem einleitenden Teil eine Theorie literarischer Ambiguität auf, wobei der Begriff von anderen gebräuchlichen Termini abgegrenzt wird. Literarische Ambiguität wird als eine dem Text oder Textteilen eingeschriebene, scheinbare Widersprüchlichkeit in der Aussage definiert, deren letztliches Ziel es ist, den Rezipienten aktiv an einer Sinnfindung zu beteiligen. Im textanalytischen Teil der Studie wird die Praktikabilität dieses Ambiguitätsbegriffs am Beispiel der zwei genannten Shakespeare-Dramen überprüft. Ambiguität wird als ein strukturelles Prinzip herausgestellt, das wesentlich zur ästhetischen Wirkung der untersuchten Texte beiträgt.

Mehrdeutigkeit ist ein grundsätzliches Merkmal literarischer Texte. In der Literaturwissenschaft wird dieses Charakteristikum allerdings häufig undifferenziert als ‚Komplexität‘, ‚Ambivalenz‘ oder ‚Ambiguität‘ bezeichnet. Auch in der Shakespeare-Forschung, besonders aber bei kontrovers diskutierten Texten wie Henry V und Julius Caesar, tauchen diese Bezeichnungen schlagwortartig immer wieder auf. Oft jedoch stellen sie Verlegenheitsformulierungen dar, die mehr verdecken als sie erklären. Die vorliegende Studie widmet sich dem Phänomen textueller Ambiguität und betrachtet sie – entgegen verallgemeinernden Auffassungen – als ein vom Autor bewußt eingesetztes und damit funktionales gestalterisches Mittel, das sowohl mikrostrukturell als auch auf der größeren Textebene angesiedelt sein kann. Die Untersuchung stellt in einem einleitenden Teil eine Theorie literarischer Ambiguität auf, wobei der Begriff von anderen gebräuchlichen Termini abgegrenzt wird. Literarische Ambiguität wird als eine dem Text oder Textteilen eingeschriebene, scheinbare Widersprüchlichkeit in der Aussage definiert, deren letztliches Ziel es ist, den Rezipienten aktiv an einer Sinnfindung zu beteiligen. Im textanalytischen Teil der Studie wird die Praktikabilität dieses Ambiguitätsbegriffs am Beispiel der zwei genannten Shakespeare-Dramen überprüft. Ambiguität wird als ein strukturelles Prinzip herausgestellt, das wesentlich zur ästhetischen Wirkung der untersuchten Texte beiträgt.

Le présent travail s’intéresse à dix pièces écrites et jouées entre 1580 et 1625. Le corpus retenu inclut des pièces rédigées par Robert Daborne, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton, Samuel Rowley et William Shakespeare et Nathaniel Woodes. Cette étude tâche principalement de révéler en quoi les dramaturges de la Renaissance se sont appropriés et ont transformé des codes appartenant à la tradition de la disputatio médiévale afin de mettre en scène les dissensions religieuses de leur époque. Nous avons pris en compte deux acceptions du terme « dispute ». Il peut en effet être défini comme un débat formel et dialectique et comme la manifestation d’un désaccord violent entre deux personnes ou plus.La première partie étudie les éléments conflictuels que l’on trouve dans les scènes de dispute, observant comment les dramaturges mettent en scène les différents aspects du conflit théologique et se sont emparés de l’idée d’hybridité religieuse qui caractérise la période. Cette partie s’interroge sur la mesure dans laquelle la scène de dispute reflète mais aussi nourrit le conflit religieux. Toutefois, une seconde partie analyse ces dialogues et rencontres conflictuelles, souvent violents, comme une manière paradoxale de négocier une certaine forme de coexistence et de décréter une trêve. Une troisième partie se concentre enfin sur les procédés dramatiques mis en œuvre par les auteurs pour proposer une résolution du conflit et atteindre un compromis littéraire entre une forme artistique élitiste et populaire. Ce travail souligne également le lien entre une célébration de l’art du théâtre comme un art fondamentalement hybride et la représentation du conflit religieux à travers les scènes de dispute. / This study focuses on ten plays written and performed between 1580 and 1625. The corpus includes plays by Robert Daborne, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton, Samuel Rowley, William Shakespeare and Nathaniel Woodes. The primary aim of this work is to determine the extent to which Renaissance dramatists appropriated and transformed the old tradition of the medieval disputatio in order to stage the religious dissensions of their time. Two definitions of the word ‘dispute’ were considered. Indeed, it can be defined both as a formal dialectical debate and as a violent disagreement between two or more people.The first part explores the conflictual elements to be found in a scene of dispute, looking at how the playwrights staged the different aspects of the conflict and dealt with the idea of religious hybridity which characterises the period. This part questions the extent to which the scene of dispute reflects but also fuels the religious feuds. Nevertheless, the second part analyses these conflictual, and sometimes violent, encounters and dialogues as a paradoxical way to negotiate a certain form of coexistence and to call a truce. Finally, a third part focuses on the way the playwrights used drama to suggest a solution to the conflict and to reach a compromise between an elitist and a popular form of art. This study also explores the link between the vindication of the art of theatre as something fundamentally hybrid and the representation of the religious conflict through scenes of dispute.

My thesis argues that textually embedded intimacy and exclusivity between men opens up ethical problems concerning the use of education and persuasive powers—the ability to reconfigure vice as virtue, to argue a case for transgressions, and to navigate political, economic, and social spheres for personal self-advancement. My argument is based first on the proposition that masculine elite friendship in the early modern period is situated in specific pedagogical practices, engagement with particular rhetorical manuals and classical texts, and manipulation of texts which determine the affectionate, ‘textual', nature of these relationships. From this, I propose, second, that a hermeneutic process of rhetorical and poetic composition and exclusionary understanding is embedded within these textual relationships. From these two propositions, I analyse the textual surface of homosocial relationships in order to ask questions about ethical dilemmas concerning the forms of power they represent. How can an enclosed system of affection be useful for political, social, or financial advancement by making a vice (self-interest) of a virtue (fidelity), a dubious idea in the early modern period? How are homosocial networks developed and depicted through an engagement with their own textuality? Are they shown as transgressive and dangerous in further marginalizing those who are not privy to the system of textual exchange between men? The creation of homosocial male friendships is predicated on the idea that there are shared texts and methodologies for internalizing ideas from classical sources (imitatio) and for using these as starting points for the creation of arguments (inventio) to suit social, political, and even domestic situations. I focus on fictitious relationships developed in early modern English drama—as playwrights represent masculine discourse, textual knowledge, and rhetorical techniques. The friendships and fellowships in these dramatic productions contain questions about the use of masculine networks in socio-political and economic navigation.