Term of Award
Spring 2014
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Department
Department of Literature and Philosophy
Committee Chair
Dustin Anderson
Committee Member 1
Howard Keeley
Committee Member 2
Joe Pellegrino
Abstract
This study situates The Weir and Shining City by Conor McPherson as embodying elements of Dionysian aesthetics as elucidated by Friedrich Nietzsche. Working through the lenses of Samuel Beckett’s linguistic philosophy and the premium of theater as established by Nietzsche, Artaud, and Brecht, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how McPherson pierces the boundaries of language in drama by establishing his audience as chorus. Background information on Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy and McPherson’s own comments on the plays are included with the research on the plays themselves. This work articulates the chorus itself but also the choral, musical quality of McPherson’s work and its resulting empowerment for the spectator.
Recommended Citation
Krieg, Frances, "Eye for the Gap: Frenzy, Liberty, and the Nietszchean Chorus in Conor McPherson's The Weir and Shining City" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1071.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1071
Included in
Celtic Studies Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Performance Studies Commons, Philosophy Commons, Playwriting Commons, Reading and Language Commons
