| dc.description.abstract | The imagery of the plays of John Webster and John
Ford is not only verbal: in staging as well as language
these dramas display strongly imagistic, symbolic elements.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the seven extant
tragedies of Webster and Ford from the point of view of
their total dramatic nature - to examine the staging,
costumes, hand and large properties, movement and gestures
as well as the verbal imagery, and the interplay of these
verbal and visual elements. The original appearance, of
these plays in their contemporary theatre, and the
dramatist's intentions for performance, can only be surmised.
The original stage directions are examined for
hints of the original presentation: these stage directions
may not always be authorial, but, especially in the case of
Ford, they seem to reveal the playwright's hand. The dialogue,
too, frequently implies particular gestures,
grouping or stage placement.
The visual imagery, it is here suggested, is created
by the dramatist for several purposes: a moral or ironical
point may be silently established; a chain of related
visual motifs may bind various actions and characters into
an organic union; a visualization may appeal outward to
other works of art or theatrical or non-dramatic conventions,
enlarging the immediate significance by this shorthand
reference; visual ceremonies may make concrete the more
ephemeral words and feelings of the characters.
Each of the tragedies is studied in a separate chapter,
in the following order: Webster's The White Devil, The
Duchess of Malfi, and Appius and Virginia (the authorship
of which is disputed); John Ford's The Broken Heart,
Love's Sacrifice, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, and Perkin
Warbeck. A conclusion indicates the differences between
Webster's more overtly theatrical visualizations and Ford's
quiet tableaux.
The thesis is accompanied by illustrations which are
either explanatory or comparative. | en_US |
