The Natural Embroidery of Thomas Southerne's Oroonoko

In this thesis, I plan to investigate the role of the landscape in Thomas Southerne's play Oroonoko. Most scholarship on Oroonoko focuses on the relationship between Southerthne's play and Aphra Behn's novella of the same name. In particular, the scholarly conversation has focused on the way that Southerne white-washed Aphra Behn's character Imoininda. While this distinction is notable, my research, instead, will focus on the way these bodies—both white and black, colonizer and colonized—are framed by 18th century gardening rhetoric. This rhetoric provided naturally conceived tools for nurturing these bodies. I plan to argue that the language of the natural world used in the play demonstrates the role of landscape in the formation of British national identity.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Hancock, Sarah Rose

Contributors dc:contributor

• Laura Engel
• Greg Barnhisel

• 18th Century
• British Empire
• British Theater
• Gardening

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/624

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1640