Because Shakespeare’s plays have been performed consistently for four hundred years, Shakespearean performance is in an ideal position to demonstrate how performance transmits the meanings of texts. This thesis argues that performances of Shakespeare’s plays create meaning through the transmission of affect. Renaissance conventions of audience-actor engagement were based on character tropes and staging practices of medieval theater, to which audiences responded viscerally. To illustrate these responses, I draw upon 3 Henry VI and Richard III. I then examine Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It for their treatment of representation, empathy, and the power of affect. These plays include latent affective cues; I demonstrate how, instead of attempting to become characters, many contemporary actors examine their lines for affective cues, as actors did in the Renaissance. Establishing performance as a site of varied meaning creates conversation across disciplines that will lead to fruitful adaptations and interpretations of Shakespearean works.
","abstract_html":"<p>Because Shakespeare’s plays have been performed consistently for four hundred years, Shakespearean performance is in an ideal position to demonstrate how performance transmits the meanings of texts. This thesis argues that performances of Shakespeare’s plays create meaning through the transmission of affect. Renaissance conventions of audience-actor engagement were based on character tropes and staging practices of medieval theater, to which audiences responded viscerally. To illustrate these responses, I draw upon <em>3 Henry VI</em> and <em>Richard III</em>. I then examine <em>Hamlet</em>, <em>Twelfth Night</em>, and <em>As You Like It</em> for their treatment of representation, empathy, and the power of affect. These plays include latent affective cues; I demonstrate how, instead of attempting to become characters, many contemporary actors examine their lines for affective cues, as actors did in the Renaissance. Establishing performance as a site of varied meaning creates conversation across disciplines that will lead to fruitful adaptations and interpretations of Shakespearean works.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dieterich, Elizabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Craig Dionne, PhD, Chair","John A. Staunton, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["drama","king & the playwright","performance","European drama","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/584","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Craig Dionne, PhD, Chair","John A. Staunton, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dieterich, Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"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":["drama","king & the playwright","performance","European drama","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/584"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Because Shakespeare’s plays have been performed consistently for four hundred years, Shakespearean performance is in an ideal position to demonstrate how performance transmits the meanings of texts. This thesis argues that performances of Shakespeare’s plays create meaning through the transmission of affect. Renaissance conventions of audience-actor engagement were based on character tropes and staging practices of medieval theater, to which audiences responded viscerally. To illustrate these responses, I draw upon 3 Henry VI and Richard III. I then examine Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It for their treatment of representation, empathy, and the power of affect. These plays include latent affective cues; I demonstrate how, instead of attempting to become characters, many contemporary actors examine their lines for affective cues, as actors did in the Renaissance. Establishing performance as a site of varied meaning creates conversation across disciplines that will lead to fruitful adaptations and interpretations of Shakespearean works.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings\": Affect in Shakespearean performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Craig Dionne, PhD, Chair","John A. Staunton, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Dieterich, Elizabeth"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Because Shakespeare’s plays have been performed consistently for four hundred years, Shakespearean performance is in an ideal position to demonstrate how performance transmits the meanings of texts. This thesis argues that performances of Shakespeare’s plays create meaning through the transmission of affect. Renaissance conventions of audience-actor engagement were based on character tropes and staging practices of medieval theater, to which audiences responded viscerally. To illustrate these responses, I draw upon 3 Henry VI and Richard III. I then examine Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It for their treatment of representation, empathy, and the power of affect. These plays include latent affective cues; I demonstrate how, instead of attempting to become characters, many contemporary actors examine their lines for affective cues, as actors did in the Renaissance. Establishing performance as a site of varied meaning creates conversation across disciplines that will lead to fruitful adaptations and interpretations of Shakespearean works.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/584"],"dc:subject":["drama","king & the playwright","performance","European drama","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["\"For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings\": Affect in Shakespearean performance"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English Language and Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}