This thesis explores the role of the boy actor in the plays of Lyly, Marlowe, Marston and Jonson circa 1580-1610. Focusing on the Children of Paul's and the Children of the Chapel Royal/Queen's Revels, the two most prominent children's troupes of the period, I seek to redress three main critical imbalances. Firstly, I attempt to counter the general preoccupation with the boy as a player of female roles in the Shakespearean adult companies; and secondly, I argue against the exclusion of Lyly from discussions about the boy's performance of gender. Thirdly, this study aims to accompany recent literature about the Jacobean boy player, by offering the Elizabethan perspective. However, rather than analysing the organisation of a particular repertory, my approach takes the boy player as a single entity, concentrating specifically on his role within the performance practices of the companies. It attempts to reveal insights into the playwrights' conceptual approaches to the child, linking the boy's place on the stage to wider social discourses of parent-child relationships, sexuality and gender, and the economic imperative which also fuels theatrical performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:643552 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Mamujee, Shehzana Nadine |
| Publisher | Birkbeck (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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