Comedy and the Counter-Reformation: An examination of the evolution of the Italian non-tragic drama and its subsequent effect on the English theatre from Shakespeare to Shirley with particular emphasis on the role of the go-between

Leslie, Robert William Charles (1994) Comedy and the Counter-Reformation: An examination of the evolution of the Italian non-tragic drama and its subsequent effect on the English theatre from Shakespeare to Shirley with particular emphasis on the role of the go-between. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Comedy and the Counter-Reformation: an examination of the relationship between the changing moral ambience of Cinquecento Italy and the evolution of the non-tragic erudite drama relating this to the forms taken by English Renaissance comedy. This is divided into six areas broadly presented chronologically: the Humanist comedy - bawdy in tone and language and centred on the Go-Between; mixed-genre experiments, e.g. pastorale and Giraldi's tragedia di fin lieto, and the gradual de-emphasising of the Go- Between's role to meet the changing moral climate of the Counter-Reformation; the commedie gravi of Sforza Oddi, with emphasis on the moral contrast between attivita and passivita, passionate but chaste heroines, and the marginalisation of the Go- Between; Shakespeare, his use of Italian forms, and his carrying-over of Counter Reformation ideals; the use by Jonson and the Satirists of Italian sources and typology and their divergence from these models; and the continuation in the Fletcherian Tragicomedy of structures and morality typical of the comedies of Counter-Reformation Italy. The thesis highlights the influence of Italian literary culture, and thereby the influence of the Counter-Reformation, on the structures, typology and moral tone of the English comedy.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Alec Yearling
• Keywords: Theater history.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Supervisor, not known
• Date of Award: 1994
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1994-71005
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 09 May 2019 14:28
• Last Modified: 06 Jul 2021 13:04
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71005
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71005