In England in the autumn of 1678, a supposed Popish Plot to murder King Charles II and install his Catholic brother, James, the Duke of York, was uncovered. The country was immediately thrown into turmoil as fear of the Roman Catholic Church and its followers overtook England's citizens, particularly those residing in London. This fear and suspicion led to what is now known as the Exclusion Crisis of 1678-1681. As the political party known as the Whigs introduced bills in Parliament to exclude James from the throne, the rest of England's citizens were left with feelings of instability about the political future of their country. This thesis looks at the effects this time of turmoil had on London's theater and its playwrights. Using Aphra Behn's The Feign'd Curtizans; or A Night's Intrigue (1679), John Dryden's The Spanish Friar; or A Double Discovery (1680), and Thomas Shadwell's The Lancashire Witches, and Tegue O' Divelly the Irish Priest (1681) as examples, this work will argue that the political instability of the time, as well the changing nature of the audience of 1679-1681, largely affected the content of the plays written during this period, making the messages of those plays politically and religiously ambiguous / A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2003. / November 14, 2003. / Restoration Drama / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Burke, Professor Directing Thesis; Candace Ward, Committee Member; Daniel Vitkus, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_180833 |
| Contributors | McGinn, Bridget (authoraut), Burke, Helen (professor directing thesis), Ward, Candace (committee member), Vitkus, Daniel (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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