Allegory in performance: An analysis of "The Castle of Perseverance", "Everyman", and "Wisdom Who Is Christ".
Item
-
Title
-
Allegory in performance: An analysis of "The Castle of Perseverance", "Everyman", and "Wisdom Who Is Christ".
-
Identifier
-
AAI9530911
-
identifier
-
9530911
-
Creator
-
Piltch, Ziva Stamberg.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Martin Stevens
-
Date
-
1995
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Literature, Medieval | Theater
-
Abstract
-
This dissertation examines the ways in which stage performance alters and enhances allegory, arguing that the personification allegory of The Castle of Perseverance, Everyman, and Wisdom is multifaceted, rooted both in the language of allegory and in image; that the audience creates meaning from performance by bringing to it a familiarity with images and ideas suggested or represented in performance; and that the performance itself presents, simultaneously, several allegorical levels: even as the personification is made literal in its naming and in the dress and action of the performer, the verbal images and stage signs reconstruct the allegory, creating a different path to spiritual truth.;Each of the three morality plays studied provides another perspective on these issues. The Castle of Perseverance provides a paradigm for the ways in which staging can amplify verbal text through visual sign. Chapter Two analyzes the use of iconographic frames, especially the topoi of the Seven Ages of Man and the Last Judgment to create a visual memory system that enlarges the allegory.;While Everyman draws upon the same iconographic frames, the focus of the play on the journey to death privileges Judgment Day iconography, and the brevity of the play renders it adaptable to a variety of stagings and interpretations. Chapter Three examines a number of these adaptations to show the ways in which this generalized morality play can be altered and particularized by contemporary contexts.;The examination of Wisdom in Chapter Four considers the influence of Song of Songs iconography on the staging and therefore the significance of the play. If the process of allegoresis allows the reader of The Song of Songs to move from a literal reading of the text to an allegorical one, the viewing of Wisdom involves some reversal of that process, allowing for the simultaneous presentation of literal action and sign.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
