Rogues Gallery: Liminality and the Politics of Power in Early Modern Texts

本研究聚焦于早期现代阶段所占据的边缘或不可控制的空间，以及这种空间如何影响和回应传统的权力结构。在此过程中，它将考虑看似边缘和次要的人物，如仙女，傻瓜，流氓，乞丐，演员，女巫，鬼魂和魔术师，以及这些有限的人物在舞台上被赋予权威的方式。本文讨论了早期现代戏剧中激进权力政治的案例，它为边缘人物提供了发声的方式。自20世纪80年代以来，随着文化唯物主义和新历史主义权力观念的出现，早期现代戏剧的颠覆性元素一直是广泛研究的焦点。Dollimore, Sinfield， Montrose和Laroque只是一些学者，他们对越界戏剧的表演元素以及从政治和意识形态角度围绕遏制和颠覆权力的理论辩论做出了贡献。然而，令人惊讶的是，很少有人注意到这些边缘性人物的声音，以及这些边缘人物在权力的参数和平衡中发挥的潜力。到目前为止，已经有研究接近某些边缘字符或分类学或话语。本研究的目的是填补目前研究的空白，在这些边缘人物对其文本内维持的权力平衡的影响的背景下解决这些问题。本研究将扩展戏剧中固有的叙事视角的复杂性，并呈现对权力结构的“多声音”和“互动”阅读（Williams, 1994）。使这项研究既新颖又重要的是，它将提供一种对政治、文化和意识形态力量利用中的权威和影响的解释，这种解释考虑了地点、表演和批判性的性格股票之间的相互作用，到目前为止，这些研究只被粗略地和单独地解决了。因此，它也将影响围绕遏制和颠覆的辩论领域——特别是关于权力等级中的一个位置，即使是处于边缘的位置，也有可能扰乱、破坏和挑战社会秩序的论点。在舞台上创作的许多作品都与莎士比亚的戏剧直接相关。虽然其中一些剧本将被考虑，但需要一个不是单一作者实体的作品。因此，我的研究将包括同时期的作品，包括莎士比亚。约翰逊、格林、米德尔顿、博蒙特和马洛每个人都利用了舞台的独特空间，以及他们作品中有限角色的库存。他们的加入将对舞台上的权力游戏产生一个整体的看法。将特别注意当代观众将看到的权威的颠倒和二分法，以及它们所带来的不同解读和生产潜力。

This research focuses on the marginal or uncontainable space occupied by the early modern stage and how this effected and responded to conventional power structures. In doing so, it will consider seemingly peripheral and minor figures such as fairies, fools, rogues, bawds, actors, witches, ghosts, and magicians, and the manner in which these liminal figures were given authority on the stage. This thesis discusses the case for radical power politics within early modern theatre in the way it gives voice to marginalised figures. Subversive elements of early modern theatre have been the focus of extensive research since the 1980s and the emergence of cultural materialist and new historicist ideas of power. Dollimore, Sinfield, Montrose, and Laroque are just some of the scholars who have contributed to the body of work on the performative elements of transgressive theatre and the theoretical debate surrounding containment and subversion of power from political and ideological perspectives. However, there is surprisingly little attention given to the voice of the liminal character and the potential of these marginal figures to play with the parameters and balances of power. Up until now there have been studies that have approached certain marginal characters either taxonomically or discursively. The purpose of this study will be to fill the gap in current research by addressing these marginal figures in the context of their effect on the balance of power maintained within their texts. This study will expand on the complexity of narrative perspectives inherent in plays and present a 'multivocal' and 'interactive' reading of power structures (Williams, 1994). What will make this research both new and important is that it will offer an interpretation of authority and influence in the exploitation of political, cultural, and ideological forces that considers the interaction of place, performance, and critically, character stocks, that until now have only been addressed cursively and individually. So too will it impact the area of debate surrounding containment and subversion - notably, the argument that a place within a hierarchy of power, even one on the edge has the potential to upset, destabilise, and challenge the social order.Much of the work that has been produced on the liminality of the stage has been directly in relation to Shakespeare's plays. Whilst some of these plays will be considered there is the need for a work that is not a single-author entity. Hence, my study will encompass works contemporaneous to, and including Shakespeare. Jonson, Greene, Middleton, Beaumont, and Marlowe each utilized the unique space of the stage, and the stock of liminal characters within their works. Their inclusion will produce a holistic vision of power play on the stage. Particular attention will be paid to the inversions and dichotomies of authority a contemporary audience would witness, as well as the different readings and production potentialities they enabled.