Comic techniques and the comic spirit in selected plays of Caryl Churchill.
Author
Joseph, Mary Beatrice.Issue Date
1991Advisor
Mills, John A.
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
Critics have often viewed Caryl Churchill as a comic playwright but have never analysed her methods and materials. I made a study of her plays in order to uncover the comic techniques she uses, find out why she chooses to use comedy when her themes are so serious and painful, and decipher whether or not she is part of the continuum of literary comic tradition. My study of Top Girls, Cloud 9, Vinegar Tom, Light Shining In Buckinghamshire, Fen and Owners reveals that Churchill makes extensive use of structural principles of the sort employed by the great masters and described by theorists throughout the history of stage comedy.Type
textDissertation-Reproduction (electronic)
Degree Name
Ph.D.Degree Level
doctoralDegree Program
EnglishGraduate College