Date of Award
Fall 1993
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English
Abstract
Introduction: The Spectator's Role in the Theater In recent approaches to Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta and William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida much has been written on the problems of genre identification, moral ambiguity, reasons for structural bifurcation, in the case of Marlowe's play, re-evaluations of Cressida's and Barabas's characters, and the plays' reflection of central Renaissance preoccupations. Into this critical discussion important contributions by performance-oriented critics have also been made. Expanding the critical discussion of these plays, which have long had the reputation of being either bad, or, at best, extremely problematic works, theatrical critics have examined performance texts, discussed costuming and set design, and interviewed directors and actors. In this study I attempt to integrate the insights of both literary scholars and these theatrical critics...