Foster The Name and Nature of Tragicomedy

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-351-88535-5
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 232 Seiten

Reihe: Studies in European Cultural Transition

Focusing on European tragicomedy from the early modern period to the theatre of the absurd, Verna Foster here argues for the independence of tragicomedy as a genre that perceives and communicates human experience differently from the various forms of tragedy, comedy, and the drame (serious drama that is neither comic nor tragic). Foster posits that, in the sense of the dramaturgical and emotional fusion of tragic and comic elements to create a distinguishable new genre, tragicomedy has emerged only twice in the history of drama. She argues that tragicomedy first emerged and was controversial in the Renaissance; and that it has in modern times replaced tragedy itself as the most serious and moving of all dramatic genres. In the first section of the book, the author analyzes the name 'tragicomedy' and the genre's problems of identity; then goes on to explore early modern tragicomedies by Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Massinger. A transitional chapter addresses cognate genres. The final section of the book focuses on modern tragicomedies by Ibsen, Chekhov, Synge, O'Casey, Williams, Ionesco, Beckett and Pinter. By exploring dramaturgical similarities between early modern and modern tragicomedies, Foster demonstrates the persistence of tragicomedy's generic markers and provides a more precise conceptual framework for the genre than has so far been available.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Foster, Verna A.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents: Preface; Introduction; The name of tragicomedy: problems of identity; Early English tragicomedy: from providential design to metatheatre; Shakespearean tragicomedy: Measure for Measure: the Duke's problem play versus Shakespeare's tragicomedy; The Winter's Tale: tragicomedy of wonder; The tragicomedy of sexuality and surprise: Beaumont and Fletcher and Massinger; Sexuality and tragicomic genre in the plays of Fletcher; The moral tragicomedy of Massinger; Tragicomedy in transition; Modern tragicomedy I: tragicomedy and realism: Ibsen: The Wild Duck; Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard; Synge: The Playboy of the Western World; O'Casey: Juno and the Paycock; Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire; Modern tragicomedy II: metatheatre and the absurd: Beckett: Waiting for Godot; Ionesco: The Chairs and The Killer; Pinter: The Caretaker and No Man's Land; Conclusion: the nature of tragicomedy; Select bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Verna A. Foster is an associate professor of English at Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches courses in modern drama, Shakespeare, and dramatic theory. She has published numerous essays on early modern and modern drama.