Drama and Theater papers

An examination of the two plays' allegorical treatment of death.

An analysis of the fictionalized, psychological play about the author's complex and unlikable adoptive mother.

Examines the meaning and significance of Act III, Scene 2, in which Hamlet speaks to and deceives Horatio, his would-be killers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and others.

Examines the central role of the past and present family relations in character development.

Analyzes the family dynamics (parent-children and sibling-sibling) of the play.

Examines how Hamlet's interactions with others advance the action and plot and reveal his character and motivations.

Analyzes the plays' theme of tragic love hindered by class conflict, leading to "love suicides."

Analyzes the tragedy and comedy of communication and lack thereof between the play's two characters.

Examines history, appeal, success, major musicals past and present ("Grease", "Titanic", "Beauty and the Beast").

Examines the tragic fates of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Herman Melville's Captain Ahab and Arthur Miller's Willy Loman.

Places the play in the context of the Oedipus trilogy, examines plot and characters, focusing on conflicts of loyalty to family, state and gods.

Examines the relationship, nature of their love, his feigned and her genuine madness.

Examines the dramatic impact of parent-child relationships on the development of ideas, action and the characters' fates in Shakespeare's plays.

Compares the characters, incidents, themes, styles and language of these plays by Roman and Greek writers based on the same myth.

Examines the play's plot, characters, themes, psychological aspects and title.

Argues that Oedipus was correct in deciding not to commit suicide but to instead endure a life of suffering.

Compares the treatment of the themes of illegitimacy and incest in three plays, focusing on "Hippolytus".

Exmaines symbolism and imagery in the development of characters and ideas in the play.

Discusses the life, career, theories and politics of this early 20th Century Russian theatrical innovator.

Discusses the play's themes, plot, characters, values, social and racial views.

Argues that dance, music and theater should be in the core curriculum. Examines physical, social, educational and psychological benefits, integrative teaching approaches, cooperation, how it compares with Japan's system and self-expression.

Examines aesthetic visions, creative origins, plot and impostor protagonists of 1982 film & 1990 play.

Compares tragedies' depictions of evil & personal responsibility.

Examines representation of tragic hero or heroine, focusing on their responses to crisis, chaos & moral choice.

Examines representations of women, focusing on their resistance & adaptation to a world run by men, in these three Shakespearean plays.

Examines plays' universality, continuing popularity, identity of playwright, problems of interpretation, critical responses and the role of the director.

Analyzes film (made from play) & the four characters' relationships, based on communications theory.

Compares patriarchal characters of protagonist of Shakespeare's play & the founder of the American political dynasty.

Examines works on necessity of limits on human intelligence & power.

Examines comic play's social criticism & depiction of Chicano family assimilated into suburbia.

Examines clash between cultures, colonialism, role of setting, nature & significance of characters who are exiles & wanderers in these two works.

Themes of race, sex and jealousy.

Play's characters, plot and themes, focusing on the influence of Puccini's opera [Madame Butterfly].

Analyzes morality of behavior & attitudes of characters, impact of immoral actions and role of conscience in Miller's play.

Examines "A School for Scandal" & "The Critic" in context of late 18th/early 19th Cent. British culture & Restoration comedy.

Examines author's humanistic, non-ideological approach to socioeconomic issues in his short stories.

Overview of dramatic writing & critical theory from classical to modern era. Ideas & art of Aristotle, Sophocles, Pierre Corneille, Goethe, Hegel and Shakespeare are analyzed.

Examines philosophy of "To be or not to be" speech in Shakespeare's "Hamlet". It looks at its relevance to the play, compares it to ideas of Plato & Descartes and to the nature of human reality.

Examines uses of disguise to develop characters & theme of evils of scandalmongering.

Discusses the play's views on marriage, sexism, gender roles and individuality.

Analyzes 1682 British comedy's themes, characters, author, style and early performances.

History, theory, purposes, effectiveness & changing philosophy underlying Russian & Chinese Communist use of theater as political propaganda tool to control thought & behavior.

Examines roles of fate, hubris & the gods in tragic life of protagonist.

Role & significance of symbolism in characterization & plot of comic play.

Analyzes theory, techniques, applicability & effectiveness of Kenneth Burke's approach using questions & symbolism to improve analytical ability & clarity of writing.

Examining the theme of evil. Includes the purpose of style, critical responses, plot and the outcome.

Feminist critique of Clytemnestra, Electra's evil mother.

Examines reasons for Hamlet's changing belief & doubt about the honesty of the Ghost, focusing on the conflict between revenge and fear.

Analyzes tragedy's perspectives on revenge & individual/community conflicts, focusing on prevailing Elizabethan cultural, legal, religious, political, gender & ethical norms.

Life & career of 17th Cent. French playwright & his satirical social comedies, focusing on "Tartuffe".

Analyzes Shylock, Antonio & Portia & argues that the play is dramatic rather than comic.

Examines five temptations faced by Macbeth in Act I: power, lying, pride, greed and murder.

Examines isolated characters in Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," John Cheever's "The Five-Forty-Eight," Shakespeare's "Hamlet" & Albert Camus' "[The Stranger"].

Examines five ways in which Shakespeare's play characterizes the relationship between conscience and evil deeds.

Compares methods of detective work of plays' protagonists in seeking killers of their fathers.

Critical review of work on theatrical communication process, speech, audience and text.

Origins & development of traveling troop of deaf actors; aims, funding, productions.

Examines realistic, optimistic, non-revolutionary depiction of racial conflict in "A Raisin in the Sun" & two more dramas.

Examines role of Cecily Cardew's diary in advancing play's farcical plot & her relationship with Ernest.

Life & career of director, acting teacher & founder of Method Acting.

Critical analysis of 1988 film by New York dancer & avante garde director Amy Greenfield.

Classifies characters as spirit of comedy, figures of fun or verbally witty; functions in comedies, tragedies, romances.

Analyzes four courtly entertainments of 17th Cent. poet. Pageantry, form, purpose, dance, story line, characters, action, antimasques.

Examines play's dramatic critique of cultural & political issues from Marxist perspective.

Play's sociopolitical messages, ideas on marriage & male-female relations, women's roles, power & love.

Analyzes memory play's plot, structure, characters, themes of love & deception.

Analyzes character of Greek heroine, morality, symbol of female strength, effects of her relationships with her father Oedipus, Freudian theory.

Analyzes uses of fantasy as tool of comedy, drama, magic, romance & danger.

Examines play's portrayal of evil, immoral corruption of human nature, Mother Nature & natural order of life in Scotland.

Compares three disturbed female characters (Lila Wingo, Beth Jarrett & Blanche DuBois) & their effects on others in two novels & play. ("Prince Of Tides" by P.Conroy, "rdinary People" by J. Guest & "Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams.)

Analyzes character of cowardly Garcin in play about hell & authenticity.

A discussion on the reasons and people behind the decline of Shakespeare's "King Lear".

A paper that investigates Sophocles "Antigone".

The paper explores how the images of Roman and Egyptian cultures in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" reflect the battle of ideologies represented in the play.

An analysis of the character Leontes in William Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale".

A comparison of Ulysses' "Degree" speech with Act 1 of King Lear, with reference to other Shakespeare plays such as "Macbeth".

A discussion of what King Lear has lost and gained by the end of the third act of the play.

A paper which discusses the character of Macbeth in William Shakespeare's play of the same name.

Examines Arthur Miller's play as a tragedy as defined by Aristotle in the "Poetics." Contends play is not a true tragedy but a social comment.

Analysis of Christopher Hampton's play & film adaptations of Choderolos de Lados' notorious 1782 novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses." Contends film version is basically conservative & that original text is superior to film & play.

Discussion of theme of human behavior in play. Inner & outer life.

Analysis of honor as a Roman value in two Shakespearean plays: "Julius Caeser" and "Antony & Cleopatra" .

Discuses methods & goals of George Bernard Shaw, Erwin Piscator, Bertolt Brecht & Antonin Artaud.

Analysis of Padre Caldron De La Brace's drama. Central characters. Philosophy & themes of this secular play. Comparison with "Don Quixote."

How it sets the tone & foreshadows the plot. Analyzes two film versions of the opening scene: Orson Welles 1952 film & Lawrence Olivier's 1965 version.

Compares nature of evil manifested by Iago in Shakespeare's "Othello" and Mephistophilis in Christoper Marlowe's " Dr. Faustus".

Discusses social and cultural context. Major theories of the "Poetics" including: Consequences of actions & emotional & sensory impact on audience.

A study of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" including a comprehensive look at Hamlet's Oedipus Complex.

Analysis of Beaumarchais play; its historical controversial elements. Themes, plot, characters.

Analysis of the tragicomedy. Fantasy & romantic elements. Deeper meaning of play.

Analysis of Shakespeare's play as an open-ended drama. Comparison with other Shakespearean tragedies.

Compares the theme of honor in Lope de Vega's "Fuente Ovejuna" & in Tirso de Molina's "The Trickster of Seville." Common characteristics & differences.

Compares the two theatrical traditions. Background of each, including Aristotle's theories on drama and influence of Zeami on the Noh repetoire.

Discusses director Julie Taymor's 1999 film "Titus" in relation to Shakespeare's first tragedy. Includes issues of violence, director's visual style & imagery.

Critical analysis of how Kenneth Branagh's 1996 filmed version of the Shakespearean tragedy fails. Visual strategy as not serving the drama.

Examines Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" & William Congreve's play "The Way of the World." Techniques used by both writers & comparison of depictions of women's lives.

Themes in August Strindberg's late 19th century play of marital discord. Role of chilldren in marriage.

Examines Jean Genet's play in terms of "theatre of cruelty" proposed by Antonin Artaud.

Examines French playwright's exposure of evils of his society through his comedies, incl. "Le Tartuffe," "Le Misanthrope," "Le Bourgeois Gentleman."

Compares Akira Kurosawa's 1957 film to Shakekspeare's "Macbeth" in terms of use of source material, adaptation elements, plot, character, theme.