Thesis
Champions of the weak and marginalized: Shakespeare's fairies in A midsummer night's dream, As you like it, and the tempest
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101473
Abstract
William Shakespeare's dramatic world abounds with fantastical figures designed to draw the theatergoer into strange and alien worlds for the twin purposes of entertainment and instruction. As unlikely and even bizarre as these figures may at first seem, they are sometimes derived from belief systems associated with commonplace life in early modern England. Such is the case with Shakespeare’s fairies, which not only draw viewers into an imaginative world but also function as devices that allow marginalized figures—women and disempowered men—to achieve successes not otherwise allowed them by the strict terms of early modern patriarchy. My thesis is an investigation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and The Tempest, focusing specifically on Shakespeare’s use of the fairy device to subvert patriarchal norms by allowing marginalized figures to succeed in theatrical contexts mirroring real world circumstances that would have required their repression.
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Details
- Title
- Champions of the weak and marginalized
- Creators
- Karin Rose Gresham
- Contributors
- Todd Wayne Butler (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- English, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525038901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis