A Thesis on Shakespeare, Literature's Master Dramatist

Author

• Hilda Mary Armstrong, Xavier University of Louisiana

Date of Award

7-1932

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Keywords

William Shakespeare, Elizabethan Drama, English Drama History, Shakespearean Tragedy, Shakespearean Comedy, Miracle Plays, Elizabethan Theatre, Dramatic Structure, English Literary History, Shakespeare Authorship Question

Abstract

This thesis, submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, presents a survey of the life and dramatic works of William Shakespeare, situated within the broader history of English drama. The thesis traces English drama's origins in medieval Catholic Church miracle plays and moralities through the development of Bible drama, interludes, and early English comedy and tragedy, before turning to the Elizabethan stage on which Shakespeare wrote.

A biographical account of Shakespeare's life at Stratford-on-Avon and London is followed by a description of the physical conditions of the Elizabethan theatre, including stage construction, scenery, and acting practices, and a discussion of the sources Shakespeare drew upon for his plots, including Holinshed's chronicles and Plutarch's "Lives." The thesis addresses and rejects the Shakespeare authorship controversy, arguing that no credible evidence supports alternative candidates such as Bacon or Marlowe. It then examines Shakespeare's characteristic strengths, including his universality of characterization, range of tone, poetic command of language, and lasting influence on common speech, before surveying his major plays organized by genre: comedies, romances, classical plays, histories, and tragedies. Particular attention is given to the five great tragedies, "Romeo and Juliet," "Othello," "King Lear," "Macbeth," and "Hamlet," each of which the thesis treats as an exploration of a single consuming passion. The thesis concludes that Shakespeare's enduring greatness lies in his fidelity to the realities of human life and his freedom to move between idealism, realism, sentiment, and satire as each play requires.

Note: No original abstract was included; this abstract is provided by the XULA Digital Commons editors.

Recommended Citation

Armstrong, Hilda Mary, "A Thesis on Shakespeare, Literature's Master Dramatist" (1932). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 194.
https://digitalcommons.xula.edu/etd/194