Date of Graduation
7-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English (MA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
English
Advisor/Mentor
Davis, Vivian L.
Committee Member
Quinn, William A.
Second Committee Member
Candido, Joseph
Keywords
Language; literature and linguistics; Communication and the arts; Geoffrey Chaucer; Drama; John Dryden; Performance; Renaissance; Restoration
Abstract
Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and John Dryden presented the character of Cleopatra differently, through both the written language of their pieces and their own and others’ performances of her, in order to meet the demands of their respective audiences and performance conditions. Chaucer, in “The Legend of Cleopatra,” portrays and performs Cleopatra comically. Shakespeare, in his Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, characterizes Cleopatra as a complex woman. In All for Love; or, The World Well Lost, Dryden characterizes Cleopatra as sentimental, but the performance of her on stage by female actresses added depth to the role. For Chaucer and Dryden, the performance is key to understanding their Cleopatras. For Shakespeare, however, the characterization of Cleopatra through language is more important. By investigating the performance conditions of the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Restoration while analyzing each of these pieces, I show how viewing these works through a lens of performance constructs a means through which modern audiences can understand each author’s Cleopatra.
Citation
Chatham, R. P. (2015). The Many Faces of Cleopatra: How Performance and Characterization Change Cleopatra in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Legend of Good Women," William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, and John Dryden's All for Love; or, The World Well Lost. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1234
Included in
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Performance Studies Commons
