This play presents King David, at the end of his life, recounting his exploits, epiphanies, sins, insights and triumphs to his last love, Abishag, who was chosen, as the most beautiful from all twelve tribes, to keep the old man warm. It emphasizes his personal relationships and demonstrates the complexity of a character whose legacy, as the model shepherd-king of Judaism and Christianity, as the composer of some and the inspiration for others of the most beautiful poems in literature or liturgy, and as the founder of a Messianic line, has endured for 3,000 years. While it includes, for literary and dramatic purposes, some presumptions as to David's opinions and attitudes, some embellished details of the old tales, and occasional instances of compressed time, it is, in essence, a faithful retelling of the stories and songs presented in First and Second Samuel, First Kings, First Chronicles and The Psalms.
","abstract_html":"<p>This play presents King David, at the end of his life, recounting his exploits, epiphanies, sins, insights and triumphs to his last love, Abishag, who was chosen, as the most beautiful from all twelve tribes, to keep the old man warm. It emphasizes his personal relationships and demonstrates the complexity of a character whose legacy, as the model shepherd-king of Judaism and Christianity, as the composer of some and the inspiration for others of the most beautiful poems in literature or liturgy, and as the founder of a Messianic line, has endured for 3,000 years. While it includes, for literary and dramatic purposes, some presumptions as to David's opinions and attitudes, some embellished details of the old tales, and occasional instances of compressed time, it is, in essence, a faithful retelling of the stories and songs presented in First and Second Samuel, First Kings, First Chronicles and The Psalms.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bradford, Robert F."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Carlos Rodriguez, MA","Leslie Ross, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z","subjects":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/240","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Carlos Rodriguez, MA","Leslie Ross, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bradford, Robert F."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/240"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This play presents King David, at the end of his life, recounting his exploits, epiphanies, sins, insights and triumphs to his last love, Abishag, who was chosen, as the most beautiful from all twelve tribes, to keep the old man warm. It emphasizes his personal relationships and demonstrates the complexity of a character whose legacy, as the model shepherd-king of Judaism and Christianity, as the composer of some and the inspiration for others of the most beautiful poems in literature or liturgy, and as the founder of a Messianic line, has endured for 3,000 years. While it includes, for literary and dramatic purposes, some presumptions as to David's opinions and attitudes, some embellished details of the old tales, and occasional instances of compressed time, it is, in essence, a faithful retelling of the stories and songs presented in First and Second Samuel, First Kings, First Chronicles and The Psalms.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Death of King David or, The Abishag Rag"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Carlos Rodriguez, MA","Leslie Ross, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Bradford, Robert F."],"dc:description.abstract":["This play presents King David, at the end of his life, recounting his exploits, epiphanies, sins, insights and triumphs to his last love, Abishag, who was chosen, as the most beautiful from all twelve tribes, to keep the old man warm. It emphasizes his personal relationships and demonstrates the complexity of a character whose legacy, as the model shepherd-king of Judaism and Christianity, as the composer of some and the inspiration for others of the most beautiful poems in literature or liturgy, and as the founder of a Messianic line, has endured for 3,000 years. While it includes, for literary and dramatic purposes, some presumptions as to David's opinions and attitudes, some embellished details of the old tales, and occasional instances of compressed time, it is, in essence, a faithful retelling of the stories and songs presented in First and Second Samuel, First Kings, First Chronicles and The Psalms.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/240"],"dc:subject":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["The Death of King David or, The Abishag Rag"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z"}