“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836
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The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
2010
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1274922246 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu12749222462021-08-03T05:59:31Z “With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 Matsos, Christopher T. Theater Gothic Gothic Drama Ghosts Theatre corporeality <p>For a period of approximately fifty years in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the British stage was dominated by Gothic drama. Like the Gothic novels whose popularity flourished in the same historical moment, Gothic drama was characterized by its attempt to evoke an atmosphere of mystery, suspense, and terror through the employment of any combination of particular appurtenances: foreboding medieval landscapes; ruined Gothic castles riddled with hidden chambers; a tormented, menacing, yet engaging villain; an innocent, "Enlightened" maiden who is the subject of his advances; an ineffectual if not emasculated hero; a secret whose truth has critical ramifications on the present.</p><p>Perhaps most commonly associated with the term “Gothic” is the implicit or explicit presence of the supernatural. However, Gothic drama in its original form did not necessitate supernatural manifestations. What, therefore, inspired Gothic playwrights to defy the threat of censorship and test the public’s willingness to suspend its disbelief by persistently conjuring such entities upon London’s stages? </p><p>Gothic drama, obsessed with death and the unknown, originated and attained the height of its importance and popularity in Britain in a moment marked by tremendous external and internal pressures, an unprecedented string of social developments, and scientific and industrial innovations. These forces challenged, if not threatened, perceptions of the individual, collective, and political body. It is the contention of this dissertation that supernatural figures in Gothic drama, in each of their principle iterations – ghosts, magicians, and monsters - were literary devices by which corporeality could be safely explored in a time of tumultuous change and uncertainty in Britain. Gothic ghosts became signifiers of bodies of literature, political bodies, and female corporeality. Where ghosts are memories, Gothic magicians represented individuals who manipulate memory, in essence making history. These characters call to mind powerful figures like Napoleon even as they engage tensions over changing roles of women in the period. Monsters, both the vampire and Frankenstein’s creation, allowed for the possibility of assimilating others into their corporeality, suggesting the notion that anyone has the capacity for monstrous behavior. </p><p>An overarching progression emerges: Gothic drama moves from an obsession with ghosts, to manipulating and consorting with them as magicians, to the possibility of becoming ghoulish ourselves. The study concludes with the assertion that any piece of theatre that engages a memory’s ability to haunt, the manipulation of memory to define or characterize the past, or vexations and anxieties of the body potentially carries with it the vestiges of the Gothic supernatural.</p> 2010-08-30 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1274922246 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1274922246 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Theater Gothic Gothic Drama Ghosts Theatre corporeality |
| spellingShingle |
Theater Gothic Gothic Drama Ghosts Theatre corporeality Matsos, Christopher T. “With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| author |
Matsos, Christopher T. |
| author_facet |
Matsos, Christopher T. |
| author_sort |
Matsos, Christopher T. |
| title |
“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| title_short |
“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| title_full |
“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| title_fullStr |
“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
“With Clotted Locks and Eyes Like Burning Stars”: Corporeality and the Supernatural on the Gothic Stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| title_sort |
“with clotted locks and eyes like burning stars”: corporeality and the supernatural on the gothic stage, 1786 - 1836 |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2010 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1274922246 |
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AT matsoschristophert withclottedlocksandeyeslikeburningstarscorporealityandthesupernaturalonthegothicstage17861836 |
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