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Revisiting Shakespeare's Problem Plays: the Merchant of Venice

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Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of English Language and Literature REVISITING SHAKESPEARE’S PROBLEM PLAYS: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, HAMLET AND MEASURE FOR MEASURE Emine Seda ÇAĞLAYAN MAZANOĞLU Ph.D. Dissertation Ankara, 2017 REVISITING SHAKESPEARE’S PROBLEM PLAYS: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, HAMLET AND MEASURE FOR MEASURE Emine Seda ÇAĞLAYAN MAZANOĞLU Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of English Language and Literature Ph.D. Dissertation Ankara, 2017 v For Hayriye Gülden, Sertaç Süleyman and Talat Serhat ÇAĞLAYAN and Emre MAZANOĞLU vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my endless gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. A. Deniz BOZER for her great support, everlasting patience and invaluable guidance. Through her extensive knowledge and experience, she has been a model for me. She has been a source of inspiration for my future academic career and made it possible for me to recognise the things that I can achieve. I am extremely grateful to Prof. Dr. Himmet UMUNÇ, Prof. Dr. Burçin EROL, Asst. Prof. Dr. Şebnem KAYA and Asst. Prof. Dr. Evrim DOĞAN ADANUR for their scholarly support and invaluable suggestions. I would also like to thank Dr. Suganthi John and Michelle Devereux who supported me by their constant motivation at CARE at the University of Birmingham. They were the two angels whom I feel myself very lucky to meet and work with. I also would like to thank Prof. Dr. Michael Dobson, the director of the Shakespeare Institute and all the members of the Institute who opened up new academic horizons to me. I would like to thank Dr. Gökçe ZEYBEK KABAKCI and Dr. Hürcan KABAKCI who are my ‘family’ and have never left me alone since the beginning of my academic career. I feel very lucky to have two great people like them by my side. I owe special thanks to Dr. Merve SARI who has not only been my colleague and roommate for years but also a sister to me. She shared my happiness and made the hardships easier to bear. She encouraged me with her great support in every step of my academic life and throughout my PhD. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Ceren ÖZGÜLER for her never-ending support and motivation. She has been a light to me. Moreover, I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Merve ÖZMAN KAYA, Res.Asst. Serhan DİNDAR, Res.Asst. Kerim Can YAZGÜNOĞLU, Res.Asst. Hakan YILMAZ, Demet YILMAZ and Dr. İmren YELMİŞ for all their support. I also thank Asst. Prof. Dr. Alev KARADUMAN, Asst. Prof. Dr. Neslihan EKMEKÇİOĞLU, Dr. Mehmet HENGİRMEN and all the distinguished members of the Department of English Language and Literature at Hacettepe University. vii My deepest gratefulness must also be extended to my family for their constant trust, love and support throughout my life. I am deeply indebted to my parents, Hayriye Gülden ÇAĞLAYAN and Sertaç Süleyman ÇAĞLAYAN, my brother Talat Serhat ÇAĞLAYAN and my husband Emre MAZANOĞLU who never left me alone with their encouragement and patience. Without them, this dissertation would not have been possible. I also thank Huriye MAZANOĞLU, İsmet MAZANOĞLU and Ece MAZANOĞLU for their great support. viii ÖZET ÇAĞLAYAN MAZANOĞLU, Emine Seda. Shakespeare’in Problem Oyunlarına Yeniden Bakış: The Merchant of Venice (Venedik Taciri), Hamlet ve Measure for Measure (Kısasa Kısas). Doktora Tezi, Ankara, 2017. Julius Caesar (1599), Hamlet (1599-1601), All’s Well That Ends Well (Yeter ki Sonu İyi Bitsin) (1601-1602), Troilus and Cressida (Troilus ve Cressida) (1603), Measure for Measure (Kısasa Kısas) (1603), Antony and Cleopatra (Antonius ve Kleopatra) (1607) ve Timon of Athens (Atinalı Timon) (1607-1608), “problem oyunları”, “karanlık komediler”, “trajikomediler” ve “problem komedileri” olarak adlandırılmıştır. Shakespeare’in bu oyunları problem yapan özellikler on yedinci yüzyıldan bu yana eleştirmenler ve akademisyenler tarafından farklı açılardan ele alınmakta ve tartışılmaktadır. Her eleştirmen ve akademisyen, isimlendirme, sınıflandırma ve ortaya atılan soruların çeşitliliği bakımından, Shakespeare’in problem oyunları alanına yeni bir boyut getirmiştir. Ayrıca, edebi türde belirsizlik, seyirciyi/okuyucuyu tatmin etmeyen belirsiz son, karakterdeki problemler ve seyircinin/okuyucunun yorumuna bırakılan özellikle ahlaki soruların ortaya atılması bu oyunların farklı özellikleri olarak ele alınmıştır. Oyunların karanlık bir havaya sahip olmasına Shakespeare’in kişisel hayatında yaşadığı problemlerin mi, yoksa dönemin tarihsel bağlamının mı etkisi olduğu eleştirmenler ve akademisyenler tarafından tartışılmıştır. Bu tezin amacı, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet ve Measure for Measure oyunlarını, problem oyunu olarak incelemektir. Bu bağlamda, Birinci Bölüm’de, The Merchant of Venice, karakterdeki ve edebi türle ilgili problemler açısından analiz edilmektedir. İkinci Bölüm’de, Hamlet, karakterdeki problem bakımından tartışılmaktadır. Üçüncü Bölüm’de ise Measure for Measure, adaletin sağlanamaması bağlamında ve edebi türle ilgili problemler açısından incelenmektedir. Ayrıca, bu tez, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet ve Measure for Measure oyunlarını sırasıyla yazıldıkları dönemlerdeki dini bağlamda, siyasi bağlamda ve adalet anlayışı çerçevesinde incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Özellikle Kraliçe I. Elizabeth döneminin sonunda, Kral I. James’in yönetiminin başında ortaya çıkan dini, siyasi ve hukuki konulardaki sorunların bu oyunlardaki kasvetli havayı yarattığı savunulmaktadır. Ayrıca, ix bağlama ait bu sorunlar, her bölümde ele alınan problemin ortaya çıkışına ya da gelişimine zemin hazırlamaktadır. Bu anlamda, The Merchant of Venice oyununun dini bağlamı açısından İngiltere’deki Yahudi tarihi ele alınmıştır. Hamlet oyununda, veliaht sorunu ve Essex Ayaklanması politik bağlam açısından çalışılmıştır. Son olarak, Measure for Measure oyununda, Kral I. James yönetiminin ilk yıllarında adaletin yerini bulmamasına neden olan otoriter rejim ve yasaların uygulanmasında karşılaşılan sorunlar siyasi ve hukuki bağlam açısından incelenmiştir. Anahtar Sözcükler: William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, problem oyunları, edebi türle ilgili problem, karakterdeki problem, oyunun sonu ile ilgili problem, dini bağlam, siyasi bağlam, hukuki bağlam x ABSTRACT ÇAĞLAYAN MAZANOĞLU, Emine Seda. Revisiting Shakespeare’s Problem Plays: The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet and Measure for Measure, Ph.D. Thesis, Ankara, 2017. The features which make Julius Caesar (1599), Hamlet (1599-1601), All’s Well That Ends Well (1601-1602), Troilus and Cressida (1603), Measure for Measure (1603), Antony and Cleopatra (1607) and Timon of Athens (1607-1608) were called “problem plays”, “dark comedies”, “tragi-comedies” and “problem comedies”. Shakespeare’s problem plays have been discussed by critics and scholars from different perspectives since the seventeenth century. Each critic and scholar brought a new dimension to the field of Shakespeare’s problem plays in terms of naming, categorisation and types of questions which are raised. Various aspects of these plays such as generic ambiguity, uncertain endings which did not satisfy the audience/readers, character issues and the presentation of particularly moral issues that have been left to the interpretation of the audience/readers were emphasised. In addition, whether Shakespeare suffered similar problems in his personal life or whether the historical background of the time was influential on the gloomy atmosphere of these plays were discussed by the critics and scholars. This dissertation aims at studying The Merchant of Venice (1596-1598), Hamlet and Measure for Measure as Shakespeare’s problem plays. In this regard, in Chapter I, The Merchant of Venice is analysed in terms of the problems with reference to character and genre. In Chapter II, Hamlet is discussed with regard to the problem in character. Lastly, in Chapter III, Measure for Measure is studied in relation to the problems regarding the abuse of justice, and genre. Furthermore, this dissertation aims at analysing The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet and Measure for Measure respectively within the religious, political and legal contexts of the periods in which they were written. It is argued that the problems in religious, political and legal affairs, particularly, in the last years of Elizabeth I’s reign and at the beginning of James I’s rule influenced the bleak tone of these three plays. These problems related to the context also establish the ground for the emergence and/or the development of the particular problem dealt with in each chapter. In this sense, the history of the Jewish people in England is dealt with within the religious context of The xi Merchant of Venice. In Hamlet the succession problem and the Essex Rebellion are studied as the political context. Lastly, in Measure for Measure, the authoritarian rule which results in the abuse of justice and the problems in the enforcement of law in the early years of James I’s rule are analysed within the political and legal context. Key Words: William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, problem plays, problem in genre, problem in character, problem in ending, religious context, political context, legal context xii TABLE OF CONTENTS KABUL VE ONAY………………………………………………………………………………... i BİLDİRİM ……………………………………………………………………………………....... ii YAYIMLAMA VE FİKRİ MÜLKİYET HAKLARI BEYANI …………………………….... iii ETİK BEYAN…………………………………………………………………………………….. iv DEDICATION …………………………………………………………………………………….. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………………........ vi ÖZET …………………...……………………………………………………………………….
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