"The Jacobean Tragic Heroine: An Individual Morality" by Peter Zawadzkas
 

Date of Award

4-1975

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Literatures, Languages, and Cultures

Abstract

In an age of disillusionment and decadence Jacobean dramatists introduced the feminine protagonist as an agent for tragedy. Not only do we observe the theme of revenge-tragedy changing from revenge for murder to revenge for sexual honor, but there is a dramatic shift in setting from the courts and halls of the mighty to the tragedy of crime in the lives of ordinary citizens. Although trends or patterns are difficult to explain in literature, it is clear that tragedy loses its cosmological proportions during this period, emphasis shifts from hero to heroine and context moves from political to domestic tragedy. The consistent presence of the heroine in this period of drama suggests a relationship with the dramatist's concept of a moral universe. Although not social reformers, the Jacobean dramatists discovered woman in contemporary society wandering between eroticism and traditional morality, and attempted to affirm values for the new feminine protagonist in a male dominated society which saw woman as a romantic heroine or a sexual object.

Comments

An Essay Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts , Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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