The shoemaker's holiday : a study in technique and significance

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Barbara Hancock Cole (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Joseph Bryant

Abstract: Although Thomas Dekker is accused of being a "hack without ideas," a man whose talent was chiefly journalistic, his contributions to Elizabethan drama through The Shoemaker's Holiday (1599) cannot be ignored. This play is usually classified as a romantic comedy; but the Shoemaker's Holiday is not so lacking in serious thought as many critics propose. On the surface this play is simple in theme, purpose, and construction, but it is really a piece of subtly designed dramatic fiction. Dekker's method involves the principles of romantic comedy, but his play is set against a verifiable background. Characters come from chronicles, records, legends, and contemporary London; landmarks in the play were outstanding in Dekker's day; situations and events arose from customs and life in the early seventeenth century. Above all The Shoemaker's Holiday reveals particular strength in the authenticity of characterization. Dekker had special ability in portraying convincingly the many sides of man's nature and the various forms of his personality.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1969
Subjects
Dekker, Thomas, $d ca. 1572-1632 $x Criticism and interpretation
Dekker, Thomas, $d ca. 1572-1632. $t Shoemaker's holiday

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