DOCSLIB.ORG

TESIS DOCTORAL Las Primeras Humoristas Del Teatro Inglés

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
TESIS DOCTORAL Las Primeras Humoristas Del Teatro Inglés TESIS DOCTORAL Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII María de los Ángeles Tomé Rosales Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa, Francesa e Alemá Facultade de Filoloxía e Tradución Universidade de Vigo 2012 TESIS DOCTORAL Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII realizada por María de los Ángeles Tomé Rosales bajo la dirección del Dr. D. Jorge Figueroa Dorrego para obtener el título de Doctora por la Universidade de Vigo Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa, Francesa e Alemá Facultade de Filoloxía e Tradución Universidade de Vigo 2012 Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII María de los Ángeles Tomé Rosales Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa, Francesa e Alemá Facultade de Filoloxía e Tradución Universidade de Vigo 2012 La doctoranda, Visto y place del director de tesis, María de los Ángeles Tomé Rosales Doctor D. Jorge Figueroa Dorrego Agradecimientos Para la elaboración de esta tesis, he contado con el apoyo de personas e instituciones sin las cuales nunca la habría podido haber llevado a cabo y, por lo tanto, me gustaría hacer una breve mención a ellas. En primer lugar, quiero expresar mi más sincero agradecimiento al director de esta tesis, el Doctor D. Jorge Figueroa Dorrego, por su inestimable dedicación, por su inagotable paciencia y su buen criterio en las innumerables correcciones y revisiones pero, sobre todo, por el incondicional apoyo personal que me ha prestado durante estos años. También me gustaría mostrar mi gratitud al personal responsable de las bibliotecas a las que he tenido que recurrir para acceder a las referencias bibliográficas necesarias para la elaboración de esta tesis. Sin su amabilidad y diligencia, esta tarea habría sido ardua y difícil. Por haberme brindado el apoyo económico necesario para que pudiese dedicarme a la investigación, tengo que dar las gracias a la Universidade de Vigo y, muy especialmente, a la Vicerreitoría de Investigación, al Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa, Francesa e Alemá, al Programa para Maiores del Campus de Pontevedra y al Centro de Linguas. Finalmente, también me gustaría mencionar a mis padres, cuyo apoyo constante ha sido fundamental para que esta tesis se convirtiese en realidad y, por ello, se la dedico. Índice de contenidos i Índice de contenidos Introducción……………………………………………………………………………... 1 1. Consideraciones introductorias sobre el humor……………………………………. 11 1.1. Teorías del humor……………………………………………………………....… 12 1.1.1. “Sudden Glory”: la teoría de la superioridad……………………………...… 12 1.1.2. “The pleasure of surprise”: la teoría de la incongruencia……………….…... 19 1.1.3. Liberando energía: la teoría del alivio………………………………….…… 22 1.2. Las funciones del humor: reafirmación, resistencia, rebate………………..……... 26 1.3. “The unsolicited laughter of women”: el humor y la mujer……………………… 31 2. Consideraciones introductorias sobre la comedia………………………………..… 41 2.1. La teoría de la comedia desde la Antigüedad hasta el Renacimiento…………….. 43 2.2. La teoría de la comedia en la Inglaterra de finales del siglo XVII......................… 58 3. Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés a través de la crítica…………………... 73 3.1. Entre el escándalo y la admiración: la recepción en la época…………………..… 74 3.2. Desenmascarando la verdadera indecencia: la recepción en la actualidad……….. 83 4. Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés a través del paratexto literario de sus obras…………………………………………………………………………………... 109 4. 1. “A Devil on’t: the Woman damns the Poet”: defendiéndose de las críticas……... 118 4.2. Las primeras creadoras inglesas de comedia como “animales políticos”: su uso del paratexto para la controversia política de la época………...……………………….…. 134 i ii Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII 5. El humor en las comedias de las primeras dramaturgas profesionales en la Inglaterra de finales del siglo XVII …………………………………………………………..... 147 5.1. Lo grotesco: entre la repugnancia y el terror…………………………….……..… 148 5.1.1. Repugnantemente ridículos: las descripciones grotescas de personajes masculinos………………………………………………………………………….. 152 5.1.2. El miedo a la mujer monstruosa: las descripciones grotescas de personajes femeninos……………………………………………………………………..……. 165 5.2. Algunos tipos de personajes cómicos…………………………………………….. 173 5.2.1. Los fools: entre la ingenuidad y la torpeza social…………………………… 178 5.2.2. Masculinidad inadecuada y afectación social: el fop como “Man of Show”... 193 5.3. El humor como arma política…………………………………………………….. 210 5.3.1. El humor de Behn como antídoto a la histeria generada por el Popish Plot… 211 5.2.2. El humor de las “hijas de Behn” como contrapunto: legitimando la nueva situación política……………………………………...……………………………. 226 5.4. Lo carnavalesco en las comedias de las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés…... 231 5.4.1. Generando humor a través del travestismo femenino……………….…….… 233 5.4.2. La gracia de vestirse de (otra) mujer……………………………………….... 250 5.5. El ingenio femenino como arma en el duelo dialéctico entre sexos……………… 259 6. Conclusión…………………..………...………………………………………………. 285 Obras citadas………………………………………….………….………………….… 293 ii Índice de imágenes iii Índice de imágenes 1. Cerbero………………………………………………………………………...………. 154 2. Quimera…………………………..……………………………………………………. 155 3. La ramera de Babilonia……………………………………………………………….. 167 4. San Cristóbal…………………………………………………………………………... 168 5. Hércules y Onfalia………………………………………………...…………………… 170 6. Charles II con el atuendo que lució durante su coronación……………………………. 218 iii iv Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII iv Introducción 1 Introducción En esta tesis, de título Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII, pretendemos analizar el humor en las comedias y tragicomedias de las dramaturgas inglesas que ejercieron su labor a finales del siglo XVII. Entre 1669 y 1706, siete mujeres escribieron comedias y/o tragicomedias con el fin de que fuesen representadas públicamente: Frances Boothby, Aphra Behn, Elizabeth Polwhele, Ariadne, Mary Delarivière Manley, Mary Pix y Catharine Trotter. La restauración de la monarquía en Inglaterra, que permitió reanudar la actividad teatral tras un período de dieciocho años, posibilitó que estas dramaturgas pudiesen llegar a desempeñar esta labor. En 1660, se concedieron patentes a dos compañías teatrales: una de ellas, denominada King’s Company, heredó el repertorio de la época isabelina y jacobea, pero la otra, Duke’s Company, se vio obligada a hacerse con obras nuevas para representar, sin duda una ardua tarea, puesto que durante el interregno los dramaturgos habían reducido su producción debido al cierre de los teatros. Este contratiempo facilitó que las mujeres pudiesen comenzar a incorporarse como dramaturgas a las compañías teatrales tras la restauración monárquica. Por lo tanto, 1660 constituye el punto de partida de este período, que finaliza a principios del siglo XVIII, cuando el sentimentalismo empezó a dejarse notar en la producción teatral. A pesar de las diferencias que existen entre las dramaturgas que hemos enumerado previamente, es posible encontrar un rasgo común a todas ellas: entre su producción teatral siempre se puede encontrar alguna obra en la que el humor desempeña un papel fundamental. Por ello, hemos decidido referirnos a todas ellas como las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés. Además, resulta especialmente relevante 1 2 Las primeras humoristas del teatro inglés: comedia y género a finales del siglo XVII el hecho de que hayan sido las primeras dramaturgas que hayan escrito obras para representar en el teatro profesional, puesto que la exposición pública de sus ideas a cambio de una remuneración económica se llegó a equiparar a la prostitución en la época en la que desarrollaron su actividad, como veremos posteriormente. Asimismo, parece fundamental prestar atención a las ideas sobre género que introdujeron en sus obras y, sobre todo, en qué medida el humor se basa en aspectos relativos a las identidades de género. A priori, ya se establece una relación entre comedia y género, puesto que el humor y la mujer se llegaron a considerar conceptos parcialmente antagónicos. El humor tradicional infravalora, e incluso podemos llegar a afirmar que vilipendia a las mujeres, de modo que el hecho de que estas escribiesen comedias en el siglo XVII despierta nuestra curiosidad, sobre todo por causa de las características con las que dotaron su humor. Esta curiosidad se incrementa cuando descubrimos las contradictorias reacciones hacia las obras de estas dramaturgas: aunque algunas más que otras, sí tuvieron éxito pero también se vieron obligadas a defenderse de duras críticas hacia su labor. Sin duda, podemos considerar positivo el hecho de que las mujeres pudiesen iniciar una trayectoria profesional como dramaturgas a finales del siglo XVII, puesto que de este modo una de las épocas más prolíficas del teatro inglés se enriqueció gracias a la variedad que trajo consigo la incorporación de estas. No obstante, la trayectoria de cada una de ellas está plagada de dificultades. De hecho, tuvieron que dedicar una parte considerable de su producción literaria a tratar de legitimar su labor en la actividad teatral inglesa. Seguramente, por causa de las dificultades que les sobrevinieron, el número de obras que representaron puede parecer escaso en comparación con el de los dramaturgos contemporáneos. Aun así, en total contabilizamos veintinueve
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Theatre of Aphra Behn Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    THE THEATRE OF APHRA BEHN PDF, EPUB, EBOOK D. Hughes | 230 pages | 20 Feb 2001 | Palgrave MacMillan | 9780333760307 | English | Basingstoke, United Kingdom The Theatre of Aphra Behn PDF Book Visit Home Events Exhibitions Library. Tonson, Hugh James Rose. Her parentage has been traced to Wye, and tradition has it that she was born in This suggests the importance of visual spectacle, that the lighting effects and music and their splendour were as important to the dramatic experience as the plays itself. In this characterization, the country, wholesome and clean, promises to be a refuge from the temptations and evils of London for the puritanical Sir Patient Fancy in the play of the same name. Further, since that by which society defines sex is not found in the female form, that is, women do not have the necessary physical equipment to consummate what is culturally considered "the sex act," love between women is, by definition, "innocent," and therefore not subject to censure. Show More. Holt for Will. Although he made many vows, he betrayed her. The efforts to bar James from succeeding his brother spawned several dangerous plots, the most infamous of which was the Popish plot, which purported that Catholic insiders in Whitehall were planning to assassinate the King. See a problem on this page? Sir Patient Fancy: A Comedy. The speaker of the poem takes delight in his ability to play the game of love in appearances only, exempting himself from serious hurt. Public spaces and places are for the men, where they can meet, scheme, fight with each other, serenade ladies, or outwit fools.
    [Show full text]
  • FRENCH INFLUENCES on ENGLISH RESTORATION THEATRE a Thesis
    FRENCH INFLUENCES ON ENGLISH RESTORATION THEATRE A thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of A the requirements for the Degree 2oK A A Master of Arts * In Drama by Anne Melissa Potter San Francisco, California Spring 2016 Copyright by Anne Melissa Potter 2016 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read French Influences on English Restoration Theatre by Anne Melissa Potter, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts: Drama at San Francisco State University. Bruce Avery, Ph.D. < —•— Professor of Drama "'"-J FRENCH INFLUENCES ON RESTORATION THEATRE Anne Melissa Potter San Francisco, California 2016 This project will examine a small group of Restoration plays based on French sources. It will examine how and why the English plays differ from their French sources. This project will pay special attention to the role that women played in the development of the Restoration theatre both as playwrights and actresses. It will also examine to what extent French influences were instrumental in how women develop English drama. I certify that the abstract rrect representation of the content of this thesis PREFACE In this thesis all of the translations are my own and are located in the footnote preceding the reference. I have cited plays in the way that is most helpful as regards each play. In plays for which I have act, scene and line numbers I have cited them, using that information. For example: I.ii.241-244.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rover by Aphra Behn
    By Shailesh Ranjan Assistant Professor Dept. of English, Maharaja College, Ara. About the Author Aphra Behn was one of the first English professional writers wrote plays, poetry, short stories and novels. Little information is known about her early life. She was born in about 1640 near Canterbury, England.Her family were Royalists, connected with powerful catholic families and the court. She may have been raised Catholic and educated in a convent abroad. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II , who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. •After her return to London she started her writings. •She wrote under the pastrol pseudonym Astrea. •A staunch supporter of the Stuart Line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to write a welcoming poem to the new king William III. •She died shortly after. Her grave is not included in the Poets Corner but lies in the East Cloister near the steps to the church. •Virginia Woolf writes about her in her famous work ‘A Room of One’s Own’ - “ All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is , most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” • She challenged with expressing herself in a patriarchal system that generally refused to grant merit to women’s views.Women who went against were in risk of being exiled from their communities and targeted to be involved in witch hunts.
    [Show full text]
  • Print This Article
    JOURNAL OF ENGLISH STUDIES – VOLUME 17 (2019), 127-147. http://doi.org/10.18172/jes.3565 “DWINDLING DOWN TO FARCE”?: APHRA BEHN’S APPROACH TO FARCE IN THE LATE 1670S AND 80S JORGE FIGUEROA DORREGO1 Universidade de Vigo [email protected] ABSTRACT. In spite of her criticism against farce in the paratexts of The Emperor of the Moon (1687), Aphra Behn makes an extensive use of farcical elements not only in that play and The False Count (1681), which are actually described as farces in their title pages, but also in Sir Patient Fancy (1678), The Feign’d Curtizans (1679), and The Second Part of The Rover (1681). This article contends that Behn adapts French farce and Italian commedia dell’arte to the English Restoration stage mostly resorting to deception farce in order to trick old husbands or fathers, or else foolish, hypocritical coxcombs, and displaying an impressive, skilful use of disguise and impersonation. Behn also turns widely to physical comedy, which is described in detail in stage directions. She appropriates farce in an attempt to please the audience, but also in the service of her own interests as a Tory woman writer. Keywords: Aphra Behn, farce, commedia dell’arte, Restoration England, deception, physical comedy. 1 The author wishes to acknowledge funding for his research from the Spanish government (MINECO project ref. FFI2015-68376-P), the Junta de Andalucía (project ref. P11-HUM-7761) and the Xunta de Galicia (Rede de Lingua e Literatura Inglesa e Identidade III, ref. ED431D2017/17). 127 Journal of English Studies, vol. 17 (2019) 127-147 Jorge Figueroa DORREGO “DWINDLING DOWN TO FARCE”?: LA APROXIMACIÓN DE APHRA BEHN A LA FARSA EN LAS DÉCADAS DE 1670 Y 1680 RESUMEN.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Edited by Derek Hughes and Janet Todd Frontmatter More Information
    Cambridge University Press 0521820197 - The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Edited by Derek Hughes and Janet Todd Frontmatter More information The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Traditionally known as the first professional woman writer in English, Aphra Behn has now emerged as one of the major figures of the Restoration. During the 1670s and 1680s, she provided more plays for the stage than any other author, and greatly influenced the development of the novel with her ground- breaking fiction, especially Love-Letters between a Noble-Man and his Sister, and Oroonoko, the first English novel set in America. Behn’s work straddles the genres: beside drama and fiction, she also excelled in poetry and she made several important translations from French libertine and scientific works. The chapters in this Companion discuss and introduce her writings in all these fields and provide the critical tools with which to judge their aesthetic and historical importance. The book also includes a full bibliography, a detailed chronology, and a description of the known facts of her life. The Companion will be an essential tool for the study of this increasingly important writer and thinker. derek hughes is Professor of English Literature at the University of Aberdeen. In addition to many articles on Restoration drama and its back- ground, he has published Dryden’s Heroic Plays (1980), English Drama, 1660– 1700 (1996), and The Theatre of Aphra Behn (2001). He was the general editor of the six-volume Eighteenth Century Women Playwrights (2001), and has just completed an edition of early modern texts concerning slavery and America, which includes Behn’s and Southerne’s versions of Oroonoko.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Edited by Derek Hughes and Janet Todd Frontmatter More Information
    Cambridge University Press 0521527201 - The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Edited by Derek Hughes and Janet Todd Frontmatter More information The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn Traditionally known as the first professional woman writer in English, Aphra Behn has now emerged as one of the major figures of the Restoration. During the 1670s and 1680s, she provided more plays for the stage than any other author, and greatly influenced the development of the novel with her ground- breaking fiction, especially Love-Letters between a Noble-Man and his Sister, and Oroonoko, the first English novel set in America. Behn’s work straddles the genres: beside drama and fiction, she also excelled in poetry and she made several important translations from French libertine and scientific works. The chapters in this Companion discuss and introduce her writings in all these fields and provide the critical tools with which to judge their aesthetic and historical importance. The book also includes a full bibliography, a detailed chronology, and a description of the known facts of her life. The Companion will be an essential tool for the study of this increasingly important writer and thinker. derek hughes is Professor of English Literature at the University of Aberdeen. In addition to many articles on Restoration drama and its back- ground, he has published Dryden’s Heroic Plays (1980), English Drama, 1660– 1700 (1996), and The Theatre of Aphra Behn (2001). He was the general editor of the six-volume Eighteenth Century Women Playwrights (2001), and has just completed an edition of early modern texts concerning slavery and America, which includes Behn’s and Southerne’s versions of Oroonoko.
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fàce. while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE PREFACING THE POETESS: GENDER AND TEXTUAL PRESENTATION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By AMY SCOTT-DOUGLASS Norman, Oklahoma 2000 UMI Number 9972512 _ ____ (r > UMI UMI Microform9972512 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
    [Show full text]
  • 4 Contextualizing Aphra Behn: Plays, Politics, and Party, 1679-1689
    4 Contextualizing Aphra Behn: plays, politics, and party, 1679-1689 Melinda Zook The recent explosion of interest in the seventeenth-century English playwright, novelist, and poet, Aphra Behn, has led to numerous and diverse explorations of her life and work. Behn's colorful if often mysterious life has been the subject of five biographies and the stuff of at least two novels.1 She has been celebrated as one of the most prolific and popular playwrights of the Restoration and an early practitioner of the novel.2 Scholars have portrayed her as a thorough-going feminist, a libertine and an opponent of the domestic tyranny of patriarchy, and an abolitionist, writing one of the first anti-slavery novels in Western literature.3 Despite the recent avalanche of scholarship, little has been written 1 George Woodstock, The Incomparable Aphra (London: Boardman, 1948); W. J. Cameron, New Light on Aphra Behn (Auckland: The University of Auckland Press, 1961); Maureen Duffy, The Passionate Shepherdess: Aphra Behn, 1640-1689 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1977); Angeline Goreau, Reconstructing Aphra (New York: Dial Press, 1980); Sara Mendelson, The Mental World of Stuart Women: Three Studies, chap. 3, "Aphra Behn" (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987), 116-84. I know of two novels about Behn: Emily Hahn, Purple-Passage: A Novel about a Lady both Famous and Fantastic (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1950); Ross Laidlaw, Aphra Behn - Dispatch 'd from Athole (Nairn: Balnain Books, 1992). 2 Behn wrote at least seventeen plays, fourteen prose fictions, several translations, and two volumes of original poetry. Judith Phillips Stanton has demonstrated that Behn was the second most successful female dramatist writing between the years 1660 and 1800.
    [Show full text]
  • Censorship of Early English Women Dramatists. Sigrid Marika King Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1994 "Vertue Vanish'd": Censorship of Early English Women Dramatists. Sigrid Marika King Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation King, Sigrid Marika, ""Vertue Vanish'd": Censorship of Early English Women Dramatists." (1994). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5807. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5807 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Lady Libertines, Female Fops, and Lady Julia Fulbank: Aphra Behn's Extraordinary Female Characters
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2011-06-16 Lady Libertines, Female Fops, and Lady Julia Fulbank: Aphra Behn's Extraordinary Female Characters. Sarah Audine Amundsen Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Amundsen, Sarah Audine, "Lady Libertines, Female Fops, and Lady Julia Fulbank: Aphra Behn's Extraordinary Female Characters." (2011). Theses and Dissertations. 2653. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2653 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. i LADY LIBERTINES, FEMALE FOPS, AND LADY JULIA FULBANK: APHRA BEHN‘S EXTRAORDINARY FEMALE CHARACTERS. By Sarah A. Amundsen A Thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Megan Sanborn Jones, Chair Darl Larsen Eric Samuelsen Department of Theatre and Media Arts Brigham Young University June, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Sarah A. Amundsen All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT LADY LIBERTINES, FEMALE FOPS, AND LADY JULIA FULBANK: APHRA BEHN‘S EXTRAORDINARY FEMALE CHARACTERS. Sarah A. Amundsen Department of Theatre and Media Arts, BYU Master of Arts Aphra Behn has, throughout her life and subsequent years, been both demonized as a writer of bawdy and licentious plays and poetry as well as being hailed as the forerunner of female writers.
    [Show full text]
  • Princes, Power, and Politics in the Early Plays of Aphra Behn
    PRINCES, POWER, AND POLITICS IN THE EARLY PLAYS OF APHRA BEHN by JESSICA KATE BENTLEY PIRIE A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English Literature College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham February 2019 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract My thesis explores Aphra Behn’s early plays and their portrayal of monarchical power within the political contexts of Charles II’s reign. The plays are studied chronologically, beginning with The Young King – which Behn claimed she wrote in c.1664 – and continuing through the first four of her works performed on the Restoration stage: The Forc’d Marriage, The Amorous Prince, The Dutch Lover, and Abdelazer. These works have been largely neglected by previous Behn studies, dismissed as experimental forerunners of her better-known works, like The Rover. By contrast, this thesis argues that these plays contain complex analogies of the political concerns and events troubling Charles II’s reign. Behn is popularly remembered as an ardent monarchist and staunch supporter of the Stuart crown.
    [Show full text]
  • John Milton and Aphra Behn John Milton John Milton
    Culture Literature in the 17th Century: John Milton and Aphra Behn John Milton John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse. - William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language" John Milton's poetic style The poetic style of John Milton, also known as Miltonic verse, Miltonic epic, or Miltonic blank verse, was a highly influential poetic structure popularized by Milton. Although Milton wrote earlier poetry, his influence is largely grounded in his later poems: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained Although Milton was not the first to use blank verse, his use of it was very influential and he became known for the style. When Miltonic verse became popular, Samuel Johnson mocked Milton for inspiring bad blank verse, but he recognized that Milton's verse style was very influential. Poets such as Alexander Pope, whose final, incomplete work was intended to be written in the form, and John Keats, who complained that he relied too heavily on Milton, adopted and picked up various aspects of his poetry. In particular, Miltonic blank verse became the standard for those attempting to write English epics for centuries following the publication of Paradise Lost and his later poetry. Milton talked about liberties "the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties“ and of these liberties is divorce.
    [Show full text]