Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Restricted Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Andrew Bozio
Abstract
This essay explores the relationship between textual and performative forms and the affordances they offer their audiences specifically pertaining to Jacques Rancière's theory of the "distribution of the sensible" and Caroline Levine's use of "affordances." Christopher Marlowe's controversial Doctor Faustus has long challenged the way we think, not just about matters of religion, but about ways in which text and performative language altar what happens in the playhouse. This essay engages with a theoretical foundation concerning matters of both modern and early modern performance theory before applying those theories in readings of Matthew Dunster's 2011 production of Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Dunster's production, along with inconsistencies in the A and B texts of Doctor Faustus, allow us to not only think about what each form affords its audience, but also the ways in which they construct or complicate Marlowe's story.
Recommended Citation
Jacobsen, Katie, "The Eternal Tension: An Exploration of the Relationship between Textual and Performative Forms in Regards to Doctor Faustus" (2018). English Honors Theses. 3.
https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/eng_stu_schol/3