Semi-animate corpses, physically powerful ghosts, and natural looking statues serve a powerful metatheatrical purpose in early modern drama. Such liminal bodies, which I define as figures caught between the fictional body and the living actor, model the relation between playgoer, actor, and playwright as they work together to produce theatrical fictions. The dramatized impact of liminal bodies on their onstage spectators draws playgoers' attention to their own experience of the liminally present theatrical world. Such displays of the power and pleasure of artifice paradoxically free theater from the constraining obligation of so-called accurate representation and highlight the pleasure playgoers and actors can find in participating together in imaginative yet embodied theatrical fictions. Ultimately, exploring why and how early modern liminal bodies worked onstage deepens our understanding of how theatrical embodiment shapes playgoer experience.
","abstract_html":"<p>Semi-animate corpses, physically powerful ghosts, and natural looking statues serve a powerful metatheatrical purpose in early modern drama. Such liminal bodies, which I define as figures caught between the fictional body and the living actor, model the relation between playgoer, actor, and playwright as they work together to produce theatrical fictions. The dramatized impact of liminal bodies on their onstage spectators draws playgoers' attention to their own experience of the liminally present theatrical world. Such displays of the power and pleasure of artifice paradoxically free theater from the constraining obligation of so-called accurate representation and highlight the pleasure playgoers and actors can find in participating together in imaginative yet embodied theatrical fictions. Ultimately, exploring why and how early modern liminal bodies worked onstage deepens our understanding of how theatrical embodiment shapes playgoer experience. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Outterson-Murphy, Sarah"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Tanya Pollard"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-05-27T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-05-27T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:26Z","subjects":["audience response; corpses; ghosts; liminal bodies; Shakespeare; statues"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1082","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Tanya Pollard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Outterson-Murphy, Sarah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["audience response; corpses; ghosts; liminal bodies; Shakespeare; statues"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1082"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Semi-animate corpses, physically powerful ghosts, and natural looking statues serve a powerful metatheatrical purpose in early modern drama. Such liminal bodies, which I define as figures caught between the fictional body and the living actor, model the relation between playgoer, actor, and playwright as they work together to produce theatrical fictions. The dramatized impact of liminal bodies on their onstage spectators draws playgoers' attention to their own experience of the liminally present theatrical world. Such displays of the power and pleasure of artifice paradoxically free theater from the constraining obligation of so-called accurate representation and highlight the pleasure playgoers and actors can find in participating together in imaginative yet embodied theatrical fictions. Ultimately, exploring why and how early modern liminal bodies worked onstage deepens our understanding of how theatrical embodiment shapes playgoer experience.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Playing Dead: Staging Corpses, Ghosts, and Statues in Early Modern Drama"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Tanya Pollard"],"dc:creator":["Outterson-Murphy, Sarah"],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Semi-animate corpses, physically powerful ghosts, and natural looking statues serve a powerful metatheatrical purpose in early modern drama. Such liminal bodies, which I define as figures caught between the fictional body and the living actor, model the relation between playgoer, actor, and playwright as they work together to produce theatrical fictions. The dramatized impact of liminal bodies on their onstage spectators draws playgoers' attention to their own experience of the liminally present theatrical world. Such displays of the power and pleasure of artifice paradoxically free theater from the constraining obligation of so-called accurate representation and highlight the pleasure playgoers and actors can find in participating together in imaginative yet embodied theatrical fictions. Ultimately, exploring why and how early modern liminal bodies worked onstage deepens our understanding of how theatrical embodiment shapes playgoer experience.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1082"],"dc:subject":["audience response; corpses; ghosts; liminal bodies; Shakespeare; statues"],"dc:title":["Playing Dead: Staging Corpses, Ghosts, and Statues in Early Modern Drama"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:26Z"}