Date of Award

5-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

English

Department

English

Major Professor

Lovell, Ellen Shelby Richardson

Second Advisor

Williams, Robin

Third Advisor

Werner, Robin

Abstract

Music is an integral aspect of the Early Modern theater, but because most of this music is lost, scholars and students typically only analyze these works using literary theories. This approach does not allow for a full understanding these plays, which is especially true of witchcraft plays because witches typically utilize music for their spells. In this thesis, I am exploring the interdisciplinary connection of music and literature in the Jacobean witchcraft plays The Witch (c. 1616) by Thomas Middleton and The Tragedy of Sophonisba or The Wonder of Women (1604-1606). From my analysis of the existing music from The Witch and the music’s function in characterizing the witch, I recreated the infernal music from Sophonisba to gain new insights into this play’s witch figure. From this project, I intend to emphasize the importance of musical analysis in discourses on Early Modern witchcraft plays and inspire interdisciplinary research into these works.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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