By looking at the world inhabited by those characters who partake of the dramatic action in King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra and Macbeth, and the relationship of these characters to their world, or universe, it is hoped to establish how certain factors affect the genesis, development and resolution of the tragedies in which they play their roles. This will be done by an examination of what Shakespeare sometimes called the "Bonds," which, as we shall see, derive from the mediaeval concepts of Nature, Law and Grace that were current in his time. This thesis does not claim to offer a complete or exclusive solution to the problem of the critical interpretation of these three tragedies: one of the dangers of Literary criticism has always appeared to the writer to be that of maintaining that the approach adopted is the only one and of attempting to demonstrate that the theory coincides at every point with the work - admitting of no inconsistencies or alternatives, and thereby making nonsense of a theory that does have considerable validiity. Similarly, it is with considerable hesitation that names have been given to the various Bonds discussed. Once one names them and applies a certain range of definitions to these names, it is difficult to stress that the names and definitions are not static or rigid. The Bond of Nature, for example, although it has a central core of meaning common to all three tragedies, is not treated from the same viewpoint in King Lear as it is in Antony and Cleopatra or Macbeth. Three considerations have prompted the writer to select this subject for the theme of a thesis. Firstly , the hypothesis that some failure, violation, misunderstanding or inadequacy of the Bonds lies at the heart of the tragic movement does appear to augment existing concepts of the nature of tragedy and help us better to understand the Why? How? and When? of the tragic process. Secondly, the concept of the principles of Nature, Law and Grace as determinants of the Bonds, which occurs so frequently in Elizabethan thinking, does seem to offer us a unified approach to their treatment of man and the world he inhabits at any particular point in history. By quoting from a wide range of sources dealing with this subject, the writer hopes to demonstrate that such a concept did exist, and that it was relatively consistent and generally accepted by Shakespeare and many of his contemporaries. It is, moreover, a system of thought that can embrace within its ambit such diverse materials as the great chain of being; the microcosm and the macrocosm; the nature of the soul; the structure of the family, the clan or the nation; the concepts of sin, damnation and life everlasting; the four elements; and the humours - and assign to these and many others a proper nature, place and function in the overall scheme. Thirdly, the writer was prompted to select this subject for a thesis because no critical writing to date appears to have dealt fully with the subject of the Bonds and their relationship to these principles of Nature, Law and Grace in Shakespearean tragedy . There have, it is true, been critics who have dealt with facets of these principles, and there have been critics who have commented on the violation, misunderstanding or inadequacy of various Bonds, but none of them seems to have dealt with the subject as a whole. Preface, p. iv-vi.

This thesis evaluates tragic characters from three representative tragedies, Macbeth, Antigone, and Death of a Salesman, in terms of Lawrence Kohlberg's six stage theory of moral development. A tragic character's moral judgment is described as being founded on universal values and principles which determine stage placement. The tragic situation is precipitated by conflict experienced by a character between his present stage form of evaluation and the more preferred, differentiated and integrated form of the next higher stage. Since Kohlberg's theory is cognitive-developmental with the moral principle of justice emerging autonomously at the stage six level, its application aids in supporting a view of tragedy based on a moral order having justice as its highest principle and on a continuity independent of historical and cultural influence.

The scholars who assert that motherhood acquires new favor in the early modem period and the critics who contend that male subjectivity and patriarchy in Shakespeare's plays depend on the repudiation of the mother both base their perspectives on an understanding of motherhood which is too monolithic. To contribute to a more historically specific understanding, I draw on the work of numerous historians and examine humanist and reformist writings, the Corpus Christi cycles, and two Shakespearean plays. I find that the medieval "calculative" and "incarnational" versions of motherhood enabled women to exercise considerable control over their sexuality and fertility and clout in their families and communities, and that the Corpus Christi cycles served as a mechanism to extend multiple facets of these versions of the maternal. While the early modern period inherited the expansive, medieval versions of motherhood, the "new," restrictive form of motherhood advocated by the humanists and reformers helped to devalue the inherited forms, promote a greater spiritual, physical, and economic dependence of women on men, and enlarge the scope of the paternal at the expense of the maternal. My examination of Macbeth demonstrates that the play employs Scottish history so as to heighten attention to the risks produced by Elizabeth I's and James I's adaptations of the competing versions of motherhood available in the early modern period. It suggests that James's adaptation is especially conducive to instability, since it generates a contradiction in the hereditary system of political power-the simultaneous need for and exclusion of women/mothers. This contradiction coupled with the diminution of the feminine/maternal makes it more likely that murder will be construed as an alternative means of being "born" into the succession. Whereas Macbeth shifts from constructions more aligned with incarnational and calculative mothers to constructions more affiliated with new mothers, Coriolanus appears nearly throughout to be informed by the contest over motherhood. By exploring this contest, I add to the understanding of the economic, political, familial, and theatrical aspects of the play, and make it possible to suggest that Coriolanus demonstrates peace is achieved when a version of motherhood resembling the expansive, medieval forms is embraced.

The scholars who assert that motherhood acquires new favor in the early modem period and the critics who contend that male subjectivity and patriarchy in Shakespeare's plays depend on the repudiation of the mother both base their perspectives on an understanding of motherhood which is too monolithic. To contribute to a more historically specific understanding, I draw on the work of numerous historians and examine humanist and reformist writings, the Corpus Christi cycles, and two Shakespearean plays. I find that the medieval "calculative" and "incarnational" versions of motherhood enabled women to exercise considerable control over their sexuality and fertility and clout in their families and communities, and that the Corpus Christi cycles served as a mechanism to extend multiple facets of these versions of the maternal. While the early modern period inherited the expansive, medieval versions of motherhood, the "new," restrictive form of motherhood advocated by the humanists and reformers helped to devalue the inherited forms, promote a greater spiritual, physical, and economic dependence of women on men, and enlarge the scope of the paternal at the expense of the maternal. My examination of Macbeth demonstrates that the play employs Scottish history so as to heighten attention to the risks produced by Elizabeth I's and James I's adaptations of the competing versions of motherhood available in the early modern period. It suggests that James's adaptation is especially conducive to instability, since it generates a contradiction in the hereditary system of political power-the simultaneous need for and exclusion of women/mothers. This contradiction coupled with the diminution of the feminine/maternal makes it more likely that murder will be construed as an alternative means of being "born" into the succession. Whereas Macbeth shifts from constructions more aligned with incarnational and calculative mothers to constructions more affiliated with new mothers, Coriolanus appears nearly throughout to be informed by the contest over motherhood. By exploring this contest, I add to the understanding of the economic, political, familial, and theatrical aspects of the play, and make it possible to suggest that Coriolanus demonstrates peace is achieved when a version of motherhood resembling the expansive, medieval forms is embraced. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

The study adopts a theory of Descriptive Translation Studies to undertake a comparative analysis of stylistic devices in Shakespeare’s two plays, Julius Caesar and Macbeth and their Xitsonga translations. It contextualises its research aim and objectives after outlining a sequential account of theory development in the discipline of translation; and arrives at the desired and suitable tools for data collection and analysis.Through textual observation and notes of reading, the current study argues that researchers and scholars in the discipline converge when it comes to a dire need for translation strategies, but diverge in their classification and particular application for convenience in translating and translation. This study maintains that the translation strategies should be grouped into explicitation, normalisation and simplification, where each is assigned specific translation procedures. The study demonstrates that explicitation and normalisation translation strategies are best suited in dealing with translation constraints at a microtextual level. The sampled excerpts from both plays were examined on the preference for the analytical framework based on subjective sameness within a Skopos theory. The current study acknowledges that there is no single way of translating a play from one culture to the other. It also acknowledges that there appears to be no way the translator can refrain from the influence of the source text, as an inherent cultural feature that makes it unique. With no sure way of managing stylistic devices as translation constraints, translation as a problem-solving process requires creativity, a demonstration of mastery of language and style of the author of the source text, as well as a power drive characterised by the aspects of interlingual psychological balance of power and knowledge power. These aspects will help the translator to manage whatever translation brief(s) better, and arrive at a product that is accessible, accurate and acceptable to the target readership. They will also ensure that the translator maintains a balance between the two languages in contact, in order to guard against domination of one language over the other. The current study concludes that the Skopos theory has a larger influence in dealing with anticipating the context of the target readership as a factor that can introduce high risk when assessing the communicability conditions for the translated message. Contrariwise, when dealing with stylistic devices and employ literal translation as a translation procedure to simplification, the translator only aims at simplifying the language and making it accessible for the sake of ‘accessibility’ as it remains a product with communicative inadequacies. The study also concludes by maintaining that translation is not only transcoding, but the activity that calls for the translator’s creativity in order to identify and analyse the constraints encountered and decide on the corresponding translation strategies. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

A proposta de dissertação de mestrado, intitulada Tensões Políticas e Psicológicas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, é fazer uma leitura crítica à luz dos aspectos históricos e dos problemas psicológicos apresentados na obra de Shakespeare (1564-1616). Serão analisados os problemas políticos, históricos e psicológicos em Macbeth e no drama shakespeariano, pois, percebe-se uma intrínseca relação entre as tensões políticas e históricas e a consciência na obra de Shakespeare, nem sempre elucidada pela crítica contemporânea. Assim, notam-se dois elementos opostos, que geram tais conflitos: de um lado, o Estado monárquico, cuja necessidade é manter uma ordem harmônica e estável, que, para isso, cria mecanismos punitivos que regem e determinam a conduta do indivíduo, como por exemplo as idéias de ordem, de justiça retributiva, pregadas nas homilias, e da mística dos dois corpos do rei; de outro, o indivíduo, por exemplo Macbeth, cujo desejo entra em conflito com o Estado e sua necessidade de ordem, a fim de tentar sobrepô-los para satisfazer sua vontade. Como se observa, a oposição dos problemas históricos se revelam não só no plano político, mas Shakespeare também cria artifícios estéticos que ampliam as tensões políticas no plano psicológico. Assim, elementos históricos como o tiranicídio e a monarcomaquia vão figurar como elementos propulsores das tensões psicológicas. Essa dissertação está organizada em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo, intitulado Tensões Políticas e Históricas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, apresenta problemas históricas amplamente discutidos na era elisabetana e jacobina como a tirania, a monarcomaquia, a violação da soberania, as idéias de ordem e a teoria os dois corpos do rei. No segundo capítulo, Consciência no Drama de Shakespeare e na era Elisabetana e Jacobina, pretende-se mostrar como tais problemas históricos desencadeiam tensões psicológicos em algumas peças de Shakespeare, em particular em Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III e Hamlet. No terceiro capítulo, Tensões Psicológicas em Macbeth: a Consciência e a Ambição, apresenta-se uma análise da consciência e da ambição em Macbeth, como uma reação a esses embates entre o estado, seus mecanismos superegóicos e o indivíduo. / This master thesis, entitled Political and Psychological Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, aims to analise Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) masterpiece in terms of historical aspects and psychological issues. I propose to analise political, historical and psychological problems in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, for we can perceive an intrinsic connection between these political and historical tensions, and conscience in Shakespearean work, which is not always explained by some contemporary critics. At this point, there are two opposing elements, which create such conflicts: on the one hand, there is the monarchal State, whose necessity is to keep the harmonious and stable order, which hence forge punitive tools in order to control and determine the individual behaviour, such as the order ideas, retributive justice, and the theory of the King’s two bodies, which were preached in the homilies; on the other hand, there is the individual, for instance Macbeth, whose desire comes into conflict with the monarchal State and its necessity of order, for satisfying his will. That opposition of the historical problems appears not only in the political realm, but Shakespeare creates aesthetic devices as well, which spread out the political tension into the psychological level. Thus, historical issues as tyrannicide and monarchomachy will reappear as propulsioning elements to the psychological tensions. This thesis is organised in three chapters. The first one, entitled Political and Historical Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, presents some historical issues widely discussed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, such as tyrany, monarchomachy, the violation of sovereignty, the order ideas and the theory of the king’s two bodies. In the second chapter, Conscience in the Shakespearean Drama and in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, it is presented how these historical problems unchain psychological tensions in some of the Shakespeare’s plays, especially in Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III and Hamlet. In the third one, Psychological Tensions in Macbeth: Conscience and Ambition, it is provided an analysis of conscience and ambition in Macbeth, as a result of a reaction against these collisions between the monarchal State, its superegoic mecanicisms and the individual.

A proposta de dissertação de mestrado, intitulada Tensões Políticas e Psicológicas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, é fazer uma leitura crítica à luz dos aspectos históricos e dos problemas psicológicos apresentados na obra de Shakespeare (1564-1616). Serão analisados os problemas políticos, históricos e psicológicos em Macbeth e no drama shakespeariano, pois, percebe-se uma intrínseca relação entre as tensões políticas e históricas e a consciência na obra de Shakespeare, nem sempre elucidada pela crítica contemporânea. Assim, notam-se dois elementos opostos, que geram tais conflitos: de um lado, o Estado monárquico, cuja necessidade é manter uma ordem harmônica e estável, que, para isso, cria mecanismos punitivos que regem e determinam a conduta do indivíduo, como por exemplo as idéias de ordem, de justiça retributiva, pregadas nas homilias, e da mística dos dois corpos do rei; de outro, o indivíduo, por exemplo Macbeth, cujo desejo entra em conflito com o Estado e sua necessidade de ordem, a fim de tentar sobrepô-los para satisfazer sua vontade. Como se observa, a oposição dos problemas históricos se revelam não só no plano político, mas Shakespeare também cria artifícios estéticos que ampliam as tensões políticas no plano psicológico. Assim, elementos históricos como o tiranicídio e a monarcomaquia vão figurar como elementos propulsores das tensões psicológicas. Essa dissertação está organizada em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo, intitulado Tensões Políticas e Históricas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, apresenta problemas históricas amplamente discutidos na era elisabetana e jacobina como a tirania, a monarcomaquia, a violação da soberania, as idéias de ordem e a teoria os dois corpos do rei. No segundo capítulo, Consciência no Drama de Shakespeare e na era Elisabetana e Jacobina, pretende-se mostrar como tais problemas históricos desencadeiam tensões psicológicos em algumas peças de Shakespeare, em particular em Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III e Hamlet. No terceiro capítulo, Tensões Psicológicas em Macbeth: a Consciência e a Ambição, apresenta-se uma análise da consciência e da ambição em Macbeth, como uma reação a esses embates entre o estado, seus mecanismos superegóicos e o indivíduo. / This master thesis, entitled Political and Psychological Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, aims to analise Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) masterpiece in terms of historical aspects and psychological issues. I propose to analise political, historical and psychological problems in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, for we can perceive an intrinsic connection between these political and historical tensions, and conscience in Shakespearean work, which is not always explained by some contemporary critics. At this point, there are two opposing elements, which create such conflicts: on the one hand, there is the monarchal State, whose necessity is to keep the harmonious and stable order, which hence forge punitive tools in order to control and determine the individual behaviour, such as the order ideas, retributive justice, and the theory of the King’s two bodies, which were preached in the homilies; on the other hand, there is the individual, for instance Macbeth, whose desire comes into conflict with the monarchal State and its necessity of order, for satisfying his will. That opposition of the historical problems appears not only in the political realm, but Shakespeare creates aesthetic devices as well, which spread out the political tension into the psychological level. Thus, historical issues as tyrannicide and monarchomachy will reappear as propulsioning elements to the psychological tensions. This thesis is organised in three chapters. The first one, entitled Political and Historical Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, presents some historical issues widely discussed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, such as tyrany, monarchomachy, the violation of sovereignty, the order ideas and the theory of the king’s two bodies. In the second chapter, Conscience in the Shakespearean Drama and in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, it is presented how these historical problems unchain psychological tensions in some of the Shakespeare’s plays, especially in Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III and Hamlet. In the third one, Psychological Tensions in Macbeth: Conscience and Ambition, it is provided an analysis of conscience and ambition in Macbeth, as a result of a reaction against these collisions between the monarchal State, its superegoic mecanicisms and the individual.

A proposta de dissertação de mestrado, intitulada Tensões Políticas e Psicológicas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, é fazer uma leitura crítica à luz dos aspectos históricos e dos problemas psicológicos apresentados na obra de Shakespeare (1564-1616). Serão analisados os problemas políticos, históricos e psicológicos em Macbeth e no drama shakespeariano, pois, percebe-se uma intrínseca relação entre as tensões políticas e históricas e a consciência na obra de Shakespeare, nem sempre elucidada pela crítica contemporânea. Assim, notam-se dois elementos opostos, que geram tais conflitos: de um lado, o Estado monárquico, cuja necessidade é manter uma ordem harmônica e estável, que, para isso, cria mecanismos punitivos que regem e determinam a conduta do indivíduo, como por exemplo as idéias de ordem, de justiça retributiva, pregadas nas homilias, e da mística dos dois corpos do rei; de outro, o indivíduo, por exemplo Macbeth, cujo desejo entra em conflito com o Estado e sua necessidade de ordem, a fim de tentar sobrepô-los para satisfazer sua vontade. Como se observa, a oposição dos problemas históricos se revelam não só no plano político, mas Shakespeare também cria artifícios estéticos que ampliam as tensões políticas no plano psicológico. Assim, elementos históricos como o tiranicídio e a monarcomaquia vão figurar como elementos propulsores das tensões psicológicas. Essa dissertação está organizada em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo, intitulado Tensões Políticas e Históricas em Macbeth e no Drama de Shakespeare, apresenta problemas históricas amplamente discutidos na era elisabetana e jacobina como a tirania, a monarcomaquia, a violação da soberania, as idéias de ordem e a teoria os dois corpos do rei. No segundo capítulo, Consciência no Drama de Shakespeare e na era Elisabetana e Jacobina, pretende-se mostrar como tais problemas históricos desencadeiam tensões psicológicos em algumas peças de Shakespeare, em particular em Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III e Hamlet. No terceiro capítulo, Tensões Psicológicas em Macbeth: a Consciência e a Ambição, apresenta-se uma análise da consciência e da ambição em Macbeth, como uma reação a esses embates entre o estado, seus mecanismos superegóicos e o indivíduo. / This master thesis, entitled Political and Psychological Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, aims to analise Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) masterpiece in terms of historical aspects and psychological issues. I propose to analise political, historical and psychological problems in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, for we can perceive an intrinsic connection between these political and historical tensions, and conscience in Shakespearean work, which is not always explained by some contemporary critics. At this point, there are two opposing elements, which create such conflicts: on the one hand, there is the monarchal State, whose necessity is to keep the harmonious and stable order, which hence forge punitive tools in order to control and determine the individual behaviour, such as the order ideas, retributive justice, and the theory of the King’s two bodies, which were preached in the homilies; on the other hand, there is the individual, for instance Macbeth, whose desire comes into conflict with the monarchal State and its necessity of order, for satisfying his will. That opposition of the historical problems appears not only in the political realm, but Shakespeare creates aesthetic devices as well, which spread out the political tension into the psychological level. Thus, historical issues as tyrannicide and monarchomachy will reappear as propulsioning elements to the psychological tensions. This thesis is organised in three chapters. The first one, entitled Political and Historical Tensions in Macbeth and in the Shakespearean Drama, presents some historical issues widely discussed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, such as tyrany, monarchomachy, the violation of sovereignty, the order ideas and the theory of the king’s two bodies. In the second chapter, Conscience in the Shakespearean Drama and in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages, it is presented how these historical problems unchain psychological tensions in some of the Shakespeare’s plays, especially in Macbeth, Richard II, Richard III and Hamlet. In the third one, Psychological Tensions in Macbeth: Conscience and Ambition, it is provided an analysis of conscience and ambition in Macbeth, as a result of a reaction against these collisions between the monarchal State, its superegoic mecanicisms and the individual.

In Brazil, since 1985 after the end of military dictatorship and the return to democratic freedoms - all segments of society have undergone significant changes, being observed also in artistic doings, especially in theater. If, before the productions turned their eyes mostly for the scenic composition of shows that prioritized issues related to engaging in an action against oppression established, now permeate the reflections by the trade issue, as well as the search for new conceptions of aesthetic languages .Within this perspective, the purpose of this study is the analysis of critical theatrical performances involving Macbeth (Fagundes Artistic Productions, directed by Ulysses Cruz) and Throne of Blood (Macunaíma Group, directed by Antunes Filho), both in 1992. Sought, therefore, raise discussions, within the historical perspective, allowing to understand the issues swathing the reception of the shows and their relationship to the contemporary theatrical scene. / No Brasil, a partir de 1985 após o fim da ditadura militar e o retorno às liberdades democráticas todos os segmentos sociais passaram por significativas mudanças, observadas também nos fazeres artísticos, em especial no teatro. Anteriormente grande parte as produções voltavam seus olhares majoritariamente para a composição cênica de espetáculos que priorizavam temáticas ligadas ao engajamento político. Tratava-se da ação contra a opressão estabelecida pela censura e perseguição política. Nesse novo momento que se estabelecia as reflexões perpassavam pela questão comercial assim como pela busca de novas concepções de linguagens estéticas. Dentro dessa perspectiva, a proposta deste trabalho é a análise das críticas teatrais envolvendo os espetáculos Macbeth (Fagundes Produções Artísticas, direção de Ulysses Cruz) e Trono de Sangue (Grupo Macunaíma, direção de Antunes Filho), ambas em 1992. Buscou-se, portanto, suscitar discussões que, dentro da perspectiva histórica, permitam a compreensão das questões envolvidas na recepção dos espetáculos e suas relações com a cena teatral contemporânea. / Mestre em História