Sleeping and Dreaming and Their Technical Rôles in Shakespearian Drama
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Durham E-Theses In the Shadow of Night: Sleeping and Dreaming and Their Technical Rôles in Shakespearian Drama KRAJNIK, FILIP How to cite: KRAJNIK, FILIP (2013) In the Shadow of Night: Sleeping and Dreaming and Their Technical Rôles in Shakespearian Drama, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7764/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 In the Shadow of Night: Sleeping and Dreaming and Their Technical Rôles in Shakespearian Drama by Filip Bul Krajník This thesis aims to demonstrate the variety of ways in which sleep and dreams are employed in Shakespeare’s dramatic canon. Using a historical perspective, the work primarily examines the functions of these motifs within the design of the plays: how they contribute to the structure and unity of the works, how they assist in delineating some of the individual characters, and how they shape the atmosphere of specific dramatic situations. This kind of analysis requires an understanding of the cultural and intellectual contexts in which the fictitious representations of these phenomena were originally written and received. For this reason, the present thesis also offers a historical and cultural background, outlining the social character of the phenomena of sleep and dreams in early modern England and the history of their employment in pre-Shakespearian literature. Where relevant, the use of these motifs in the works of Shakespeare’s contemporaries is also studied. The Introduction to the thesis summarizes the current state of knowledge of the topic and defines the present author’s approach to the research question. The first chapter discusses dream literature as a genre, its themes and development before Shakespeare’s time. The second chapter analyses the dramatic functions of a sleeping character on the stage in Shakespeare’s drama and how this image developed from the dramatist’s early plays to his later and more mature works. It examines how the motif affects the image of the character in question, but also how it influences the immediate dramatic context. A special section is devoted to the topos of dreams and its use as a characterization device. The third chapter deals with fictitious dream prophecies and their technical functions in Shakespeare’s plays. Again, the chapter follows the motif from the early stages of Shakespeare’s dramatic career to his last plays, trying to determine both its staple functions and changes in its employment. The last chapter addresses the dramatic image of the night as a time in which sleeping and dreaming – but also other typically dark enterprises – occur. A special section is devoted to Shakespeare’s use of the death-as-sleep metaphor and its dramatic implications. Sub umbra noctis: Somnus, somnia eorumque munera technica in dramatibus Shakesperii Scripsit Philippus Bul Krajník Hisce rebus perscrutandis discatur quomodo somnus somniaque in dramatibus Gulielmi Shakesperii variis in modis adhibeantur. Imprimis harum rerum munera in ludis theatricis componendis per methodum historiam respiciendi examinantur: quanta pars iis in ludorum ordine unitateque comittatur, quemadmodum personas depingi iuvent et quantam vim singulis dramatum momentis afferant. Contextum et culturalem et intellectualem, in quo haec phaenomena ab origine scripta erant atque accipiebantur, intellegere ad tale inspectionis faciendae genus necesse est. Quamobrem in opere quoque rerum historia et eius temporis res culturales, quae ad rem pertinent, perhibentur, quo fundamentum status socialis in Anglia non diu postmedievali usumque horum phaenomenorum in litteris ante Shakesperium scriptis spectare possimus. Etiam de operibus haec continentibus tractatur eorum auctorum, qui eadem aetate ac Shakesperius vivebant. In praescriptio huius thesis, quo usque temporibus nostris scientia huius thematis pervaserit, disseritur et quem in modum auctor de iis rebus accedendis senserit scribitur. Capitulum primum litteras somniis inspiratas genus novum perspicit earumque evolutionem et modos scribendi praecipuos aetatis ante Shakesperium natum describit. Capitulum secundum fines dramaticos personarum in proscaenio in ludis Shakesperii dormientium perscrutatur huiusque rei evolutionem a primis auctoris operibus usque ad ea plus matura examinat. Quantum momentum hic motivus ad personam in opere scriptam afferat porro perspicitur pariter ac quemadmodum eadem re contextus continuo afficiatur. Articulus proprius τοπωι somniorum ut instrumento describendi datus est. Capitulum tertium de prophetiis fictis in somniis factis atque eorum muneribus in ludis Shakesperii scribit. Iterum hic motivus a Shakesperii operibus primis usque ad posteriora spectatur, ut quid saepissime sibi is motivus in ludis velit et quomodo munus eius gradatim mutetur, noscatur. In capitulo postremo noctis species dramatica tempus dormiendi somniandique depingitur et porro species aliorum eventuum atrorum, qui huic proprii sunt. Articulus proprius somno a Shakesperio adhibito velut mortis metaphorae significationibusque drammaticis deditus est. IN THE SHADOW OF NIGHT: SLEEPING AND DREAMING AND THEIR TECHNICAL RÔLES IN SHAKESPEARIAN DRAMA by Filip Bul Krajník Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of English Studies Durham University, 2013 Table of Contents Statement of Copyright....................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. iii Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1 Sleep and Dreams in Literature before Shakespeare ................................................... 9 1. 1 The Epic of Gilgamesh: First Literary Dreams .......................................................... 9 1. 2 Dreams in Homer ..................................................................................................... 12 1. 3 Dreams as a Technical Device in Greek Tragedy .................................................... 14 1. 4 Virgil’s Aeneid: Dreams in Latin Epic ..................................................................... 19 1. 5 Dramatic Dreams in Roman Tragedy ...................................................................... 22 1. 6 The Employment of Dreams in Roman Comedy ..................................................... 24 1. 7 Dreams in Mediaeval Drama ................................................................................... 26 1. 8 Mediaeval Dream-Visions: Doctrinal and Courtly Traditions ................................. 31 1. 9 Dream-Poetry in Mediaeval England ....................................................................... 38 1. 10 Dreams in Early Modern English Fiction before Shakespeare .............................. 53 2 The Sleeping Character – Characterising the Sleeper ............................................... 64 2. 1 Sleeping and Dreaming as a Key to the Human Mind ............................................. 64 2. 2 The Anatomy of a Sleeping Figure .......................................................................... 75 2. 3 “Then draw the Curtaines againe”: The Case of Good Duke Humphrey ................ 85 2. 4 Remorseful Villains, Plaintive Kings ....................................................................... 95 2. 5 Falstaff: Less Independent, More Stock Character ................................................ 112 2. 6 The Dream-Frame of The Taming of a/the Shrew ................................................. 117 2. 7 Delineating a Dramatic Character through Dreams ............................................... 129 3 Dream Prophecies: Daily Speech, Nocturnal Knowledge ........................................ 148 3. 1 Dreamers, Doubters and Heretics .......................................................................... 148 3. 2 Shakespeare’s Early Nocturnal Warnings .............................................................. 168 3. 3 Dream Prophecies of Shakespeare’s Middle Period .............................................. 181 3. 4 Significative Dreams in Shakespeare’s Late Plays ................................................ 193 4 Nocturnal Life in Shakespeare .................................................................................... 200 4. 1 Shakespearian Terrors of the Night ....................................................................... 200 4. 2 Day and Night in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream ................ 216 4. 3 Death, the Brother of Sleep .................................................................................... 226 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................