The Narrative Functions of the Chorus in Selected English Renaissance Plays


Abstract in English

This paper aims at studying the narrative functions of the stack Chorus in selected English Renaissance plays: Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Ben Jonson's Volpone. This study offers a close reading of the speeches delivered by the Chorus, and shows their narration of the events and their moral commentaries. This emphasizes their didactic significance because they sum up the events, interpret the vague ones and endorse the play's desired message . this paper concludes that Jonson develops the stock Chorus by having recourse to other characters who perform this communicative and didactic role. Here lies Jonson's contribution to this conventional figure.

References used

Abrams, M.H., A Glossary of Literary Terms, Thomson Learning, Massachusetts, 1999
Baldick, Chris, The Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001
Christenson, David, "Meta-Theatre", in The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy, edited by M. Dinter, 2012

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