The existing scholarship on the work of British playwright Sarah Kane mostly focuses on exploring the use of extreme acts of violence in her plays. However, few scholars like Dr. Graham Saunders and Anabelle Singer can trace it back to the rejection of her Christian beliefs during her adolescence. This thesis explores how Kane used violence and images of impalement, dismemberment, and cross-dressing in her third play, Cleansed as a vehicle to examine and validate her notions of gender and sexuality as well as her developing post-Christian spirituality. Through the critical textual analysis of Cleansed in conjunction with scholarly literature regarding her work, I explore Kane’s life and spiritual background and tie them to the biblical allusions in the play and Kane’s adaptation thereof.
","abstract_html":"<p>The existing scholarship on the work of British playwright Sarah Kane mostly focuses on exploring the use of extreme acts of violence in her plays. However, few scholars like Dr. Graham Saunders and Anabelle Singer can trace it back to the rejection of her Christian beliefs during her adolescence. This thesis explores how Kane used violence and images of impalement, dismemberment, and cross-dressing in her third play, <em>Cleansed </em>as a vehicle to examine and validate her notions of gender and sexuality as well as her developing post-Christian spirituality. Through the critical textual analysis of <em>Cleansed </em>in conjunction with scholarly literature regarding her work, I explore Kane’s life and spiritual background and tie them to the biblical allusions in the play and Kane’s adaptation thereof.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sanchez, Elba"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Theatre Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Emily Rollie","Christina Barrigan","Lily Vuong"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:48Z","subjects":["Theatre","Theatre Studies","Sarah Kane","Cleansed","Religious Studies","Christianity","God","Atheism","Arts and Humanities","Performance Studies","Playwriting","Theatre and Performance Studies","Theatre History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1347","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Emily Rollie","Christina Barrigan","Lily Vuong"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sanchez, Elba"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-03-31T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Theatre Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Theatre","Theatre Studies","Sarah Kane","Cleansed","Religious Studies","Christianity","God","Atheism","Arts and Humanities","Performance Studies","Playwriting","Theatre and Performance Studies","Theatre History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1347"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The existing scholarship on the work of British playwright Sarah Kane mostly focuses on exploring the use of extreme acts of violence in her plays. However, few scholars like Dr. Graham Saunders and Anabelle Singer can trace it back to the rejection of her Christian beliefs during her adolescence. This thesis explores how Kane used violence and images of impalement, dismemberment, and cross-dressing in her third play, Cleansed as a vehicle to examine and validate her notions of gender and sexuality as well as her developing post-Christian spirituality. Through the critical textual analysis of Cleansed in conjunction with scholarly literature regarding her work, I explore Kane’s life and spiritual background and tie them to the biblical allusions in the play and Kane’s adaptation thereof.
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