Academic literature on the topic 'Chastity – Drama'

By all indications, the public persona of the late Restoration actress Anne Bracegirdle was built on the speculative foundation of maidenhead. A leading ingénue of multiple talents, Bracegirdle played significant roles in comedy, tragedy, and music-drama from her debut in 1688 to her retirement in 1707. In comedy, Bracegirdle specialized in marriageable young women of rank, wit, and fortune. In serious drama, Bracegirdle often played the pathetic heroine, a virtuous woman stalked by a predatory man. Though primarily an actress, Bracegirdle also called upon her impressive soprano voice in many entr'actes and the occasional musical part. A first-rank player and hardworking company member from very early in her career, Bracegirdle played some eighty roles over a nineteen-year span that kept her consistently before the public eye. Despite Bracegirdle's constant appearances on the stages of Drury Lane, Dorset Garden, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, few extant sources identify the qualities that typified her playing; commentators rarely discuss her acting as a discrete set of practices, aptitudes, or characterizations. Rather, prodigious evidence attests to the public's obsession with Bracegirdle's reputation for virginity. Called the “Romantick Virgin,” the actress was thought to be chaste, and many writers focused attention on her sexual virtue. Indeed, Bracegirdle's chastity seems to have been the cornerstone of her fame. As Colley Cibber wrote, her star status rose in conjunction with her reputation for purity:

This study aims to evaluate the commodified brother-sister relationship in Early Modern drama. It examines three different samples from three major playwrights of this time period: Isabella and Claudio in William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (1603), Charles and Susan in Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), and Giovanni and Annabella in John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1632). The three aforementioned cases are closely evaluated through a Marxist-feminist lens. The study finds out that the brothers in the three examined plays are not very different since they all encourage their sisters to sacrifice their chastity to achieve some sort of personal interest. Interestingly enough, the sisters vary in their responses to their brothers’ requests of offering their bodies to help their brothers. Obviously, Shakespeare offers the ideal version of a sister who does everything in her power to save a brother. Yet, she refuses to offer her body in return to his freedom in spite of her brother’s desperate calls to offer her virginity to Angelo to save the former’s life. Susan of Heywood is also similar to Isabella of Shakespeare since she refuses to sell herself in return to the money needed to save her brother. However, Ford offers the ugliest version of a brother-sister relationship. The brother wants to have a love affair with his sister who yields to his sexual advances and eventually gets pregnant.

Maenads in pop culture are usually women with a strong eroticism, distinguished by sexual addiction and pure lust, malice, and murders. However, the maenads in Ancient Greek iconography and drama were completely different, not connected to the sexual sphere or to the manipulation of men. Ancient Greek maenads preserve their chastity, and their task is to honor Dionysus with dances and rites. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the common thread that has led to this contemporary sexual and gloomy distinctive characterization of maenads in modern media and to understand where this dark vision of maenadism comes from. The stages on this journey through times past are the Bacchanalia scandal (186 B.C.), the black legend of Messalina, some cases of Christian condemnations, and the conception of maenads during the Renaissance and Victorian Hellenism.

Silapathikaram was created by Ilango Adigal. The speciality of silapathikaram is, it is the first epic created in tamil language. Silapathikaram presents literature, music and drama(muthamizh) and thereby bringing to light the pride of Tamil language. As characters of Silapathikaram got into a lot of discussions, a doubt arises whether the characters got famous through the epic or, the epic got famous due to the characters. For instance, the chastity of Kannagi and Madhavi has been compared and subjected to many debates. Madhavi is considered to be a crucial character in Silapathikaram. Madhavi belongs to kanigayar community. She has learnt the art of dance for seven years. She has also learnt to play a musical instrument called ‘yazh’. She has written two letters, thereby Silapathikaram exposed her art skills and literary knowledge. It is also known that women of kanigayar community learnt many art skills, thus exposing the literary, musical, and art skills of Tamil people.

The story of Susanna and the Elders, found in the apocryphal thirteenth chapter of Daniel, part of the Greek version of the Book of Daniel, is richly suggestive of its likely appeal to poets and artists. It is set during the Babylonian Captivity and recounts events concerning the Jewish community within Babylon. Susanna is the beautiful and chaste wife of a wealthy man, Joachim, whose home serves as a seat of justice for his fellow Jews. While bathing in their garden, Susanna is spied upon and accosted by two judges of Israel who frequent her husband's house. They invite her to satisfy both of them or suffer the penalty for a charge of adultery, which they will bring against her. She refuses, saying that she would rather fall into their hands than sin in the sight of God. She is tried unveiled before the people. Led off to execution, Susanna calls out to God, who stirs up the spirit of the young Daniel. Daniel's skill in separating the elders before asking for details of their evidence against Susanna reveals their perjury, and they are put to death by the crowd. The tale is certainly courtroom drama, but it is also a narrative of transgressions — of female chastity and modesty, of the household and property, of justice itself.

The relationship between religion and theatre is an ancient one; in fact this relationship has been the essence and raison d’être of theatre from ancient Egypt and Greece until the present day. However, in today's world, to borrow from, or be inspired by, a holy scripture is not only to debate issues pertaining to faith, but rather to aim for a dialectics between the dramatic work and the modern-day readers/spectators and their contemporary sociopolitical conditions. Indeed, it was his recourse to a Qur'anic story as plot for Ahl al-kahf (‘Sleepers of the Cave’, 1933) that helped Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm to initiate drama as an intrinsic genre into the literary canon, theatre having long been deemed an unessential art form within the Arabo-Islamic world. The subject of the current article, ʿAlī Aḥmad Bā Kathīr (1910–69), likewise wrote a substantial number of works for the stage derived from Islamic history and tradition. As a member of the cultural sector of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1940s and 1950s and a major contributor to al-masraḥ al-dīnī (‘the theatre of religion’) in Egypt, it is no surprise that Bā Kathīr devoted a large portion of his prolific dramatic writing to narratives inspired by the Qur'an and other religious sources. His play Hārūt wa-Mārūt (‘The Angels Hārūt and Mārūt’, 1962) is a very good example of this vein in his writing. Based in the Qur'anic story mentioned in Sūrat al-Baqara, it recounts the story of the two angels, who are transformed into humans and descend to earth, to demonstrate that sin can be combated by the practice of chastity, willpower, and self-restraint.

Pisiranthaiyar was a poet of Sangam period. He was very friendly with King Kopperuncholan. He was a devotee of Pandyan Idudai Nambi. He gave advice and political virtue to the king and earned the respect of Pandyan. Pisiranthaiyar lived in a town called 'Pisir' in Pandya country. Bharathidasan has created this drama in the twentieth century with his imaginative poetry, centering on the friendship of the devotees. During the Sangam period, the doctrine of virtue had a great influence on the society. Social life is structured through this religion. Ancient Tamil society was enriched by urban civilization. Tamil civilization was one of the pioneer civilizations of the world before this civilized way of life was built. The education seen in the people and the poets during the Sangam period makes clear the knowledge of the Tamil people. Sangam period is built on individual morality, political virtue, chivalry, arts etc. The types of food that prevailed during the Sangam period, the philosophy of nature, astronomy, mentalism, solvency, commerce, water management, life rituals etc. are the aspects of life. In Pisiranthaiyar’s play, Bharathidasan takes the life of that time in the context of the 20th century for the social development of Tamil people and building the values of life for the upliftment of the Tamil society. In the life of a Tamilian, culture, art, education, and valor are combined, hospitality, kindness, chastity, justice, friendship etc. are mixed in the life of the ancient Tamilians, and Bharathidasan has designed his concept that these values of life should be incorporated in the contemporary environment as well. This review is structured on a qualitative approach. This article examines the living norms of the Tamil people in the context of Pisiranthaiyar's era and the living norms mentioned by Bharathidasan.

Statement of the problem. Today national musicology is beginning to actively show interest in the study of Western European medieval monody. However, there is still no scientific information about the unique personality of the Middle Ages – Hildegard of Bingen and her musical creativity – in particular about the liturgical drama «Ordo virtutum», although there are some musicology methods for analyzing this music. The relevance of this study is due to the filling of this gap. Taking in account that a musical work of the 11–12th centuries is usually considered only within the context of the “historical style”, it seems interesting to have the opposite approach – to identify the characteristic features of authorship in the work of a medieval composer, whose music is becoming more and more popular in the world concert repertoire. The purpose of the article is to consider the work of Hildegard of Bingen in the aspect of the phenomenon of the author’s style and to identify the invariant features of the individual style model. The liturgical drama “Ordo Virtutum” (“Series of Virtues”) of 1150 by Hildegard of Bingen was chosen as the material for the study, in which several types of art – music, literature and theater are combined, and which is the earliest survived sample of this genre. The “libretto” of the drama is written by Hildegard own and fixed in the so-called “Rizenkodeks” – the majestic manuscript book of 25 pounds, which stored in Wiesbaden Landesbibliothek. The author of this study used the following research methods: historical and contextual due to the need to identify the specifics of creative thinking of Hildegard of Bingen in the context of the theory and practice of the liturgical monody of her time; intonation-dramaturgical analysis aimed at a holistic comprehension of the musical content as such, which is guided by the search for unifying patterns of the intonation plan, and the text-musical semantic analysis of the holy chants fot covering the synergistic aspect of understanding style. Results of the study. Theological themes were the main issues of Hildegard’s life, because from the age of eight she lived and studied in a Benedictine monastery, and later founded her own monastery in Rupertsberg. So, the work of Hildegard of Bingen, along with the music of such well-known, but much younger than her, contemporaries, masters of polyphony, like Leonin and Perotin, provides a unique opportunity to trace the peculiarities of the manifestation of authorship in the monody of the 12th century. The Gregorian chant became a genre that fully embodies the aspirations of the church. However, from the 11th century onwards, secular elements were gradually introduced into church music: from Easter or Christmas tropes, which contained intonations of folk songs, to theatrical episodes based on Scriptures, or “actions” called liturgical drama. The musical drama “Ordo Virtutum” (“A Series of Virtues”) was created to consecrate the Hildegard Convent in Rupertsberg and is impressive primarily because it is the first fully preserved, not fragmentary, liturgical drama. Unlike traditional liturgical drama, the work also surprises with its unusualness and multidimensionality. The text of the drama is related to the themes, characters and prophetic visions presented in one of the main theological works of Hildegard – “Scivias”. As for music, it is a monody, which, thanks to its innovations, significantly expands the tonal and intonational boundaries of music of that time. “Ordo Virtutum” is a Christian philosophical parable dedicated to the struggle for the human soul between the sixteen Virtues (Faith, Hope, Love, Humility, Docility, Innocence, Modesty, Divine Love, Divine Knowledge, Prudence, Patience, Chastity etc.) and the devil. This is the story of a “prodigal daughter” tempted by the devil, who gradually repented and returned with joy to the bosom of the Church. The manuscript of the drama is not divided into actions, but modern editions divide the work into six parts: the prologue, four scenes and the finale. There are a total of 82 different melodies, 80 of which are performed by women. The presence of a large number of female roles (as evidenced by the mostly high register of singing) indicates that the drama “Ordo Virtutum” was composed and performed for the first time in a nunnery. A peculiar struggle takes place between the features of the traditional Gregorian genre, secular influences and signs of Hildegard’s own style of singing, which leads to their synthesis in her compositional work and the opening of new musical horizons. The content of her songs is based on spiritual and cultural context, on the one hand, and personal and psychological attitudes, on the other. Hildegard’s monody is individual in relation to the models of Gregorian chants described in the scientific literature and is unorthodox. Following the text, the melody is divided into lines, which are combined into structural constructions of a higher level – stanzas. The structural and semantic unity of the whole is achieved due to the commonality of melodic motives, and the structure of lines and stanzas is determined by the motive formula. The presence of the above-mentioned integrating principle together with the multiplicity of its incarnations within the unique author’s individuality makes it possible to assert that Hildegard of Bingen’s music is a systemic phenomenon and demonstrates its own compositional style, like the music of Leonin or Perotin. On the example of the analysis of the musical characteristics of different heroes of the work, we see that the liturgical drama “Ordo Virtutum” is not just a collection of typified chorales, as it may seem at first glance. We have before us a real composer opus, endowed with its own unique authorial style, which is “lighting” through each element of this harmonious systemic compositional and semantic integrity. Conclusions. The liturgical drama of Hildegard of Bingen, in fact, was the first, which means that it is advisable to talk about the “phenomenon of a musical work” (the term of N. Gerasimova-Persidskaya), which is inevitably associated with authorship. It was also revealed that the characteristic features that add originality to the musical writing of St. Hildegard are the construction of special short intonational-motive formulas, as well as the frequent use of melismas and musical figures of ascending leaps, extended to an octave. The interaction of these and other qualities forms the uniquely individual author’s style of Hildegard of Bingen, the phenomenon of which lies in his exceptional integrity.

Introduction. The given article is devoted to study of the Ukrainian ballet continuing to produce new ways of implementation of the ideas and artistic images in the beginning of the XXI century. The production of the ballet “Peer Gynt” on the music by E. Grieg, done by People’s artist of Ukraine V. Pisarev for the troupe of Donetsk ‘A. Solovianenko’ Academic State Theatre of Opera and Ballet is a remarkable example of this process. The production’s premiere was on, 1997, May 17, in the framework of the international theatre project “Ukraine – Norway”. Twenty years later, in 2017, the new variant of the ballet has been created for Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M. V. Lysenko. This “Kharkiv variant” was staged regarding specifics of Kharkiv theatre’s troupe, while retaining the choreographic text of the original; it is marked by scenography and decorations being more spectacular and modern. The work by H. Ibsen received harsh critique from literary scholars who gave plenty of negative reviews of it, and it was E.Grieg’s music that led this poetic drama to wide recognition and popularity it has today. H. Ibsen’s piece became a base for more than the ten of films, directed from 1915 until 2006. As well as E Grieg’s music, which mostly accompanies the theatrical and cinematic interpretations of the drama poem, there are homonymous opera by Werner Egk (1938) and the ballet by John Neumeier, created in a collaboration with A. Schnittke (1987). As a ballet, the “Peer Gynt” is being staged since 1922 up to present day. The object of this research is musically-plastique image of Solveig. The aim of the study is to reveal specifics of musically-plastique, choreographic means, which are used to portray Solveig’s image in V. Pisarev’s production of ballet “Peer Gynt” regarding literary source. The article uses such methods as: 1) historical, allowing to place selected work into the perspective of development of ballet theatre in XXI century; 2) genre approach conditioned by specifics of means of expression used in choreographic art; 3) stylistic, used to regard given ballet in the context of choreographic art. The research results. H. Ibsen elevated the story to the level of philosophical parable about man’s freedom to choose his own path and about the price this freedom comes with. A psychological portrait of the protagonist, wanderer Peer Gynt, combines traits of both humanist and insane. The playwright creates opposition between him and Solveig, majestic in her spiritual martyrdom. According to H. Ibsen’s conception, it is Solveig, being an incarnation of the very best feminine traits, such as chastity, fidelity and kindness, who saves the prodigal soul of the protagonist. In the end of his earthly path, Peer Gynt finally finds what he has been looking for his entire life – self-sacrificial Love, saving him from the eternal suffering near his death. The libretto is written by Yu. Stanishevsky, historian of ballet. The author significantly abridges the text of the dramatic poem, reducing the number of acts from five to two. The First act consists of 4 tableaus, the Second has only two; Yu. Stanishevsky omits several situations in order to make the spectacle more dynamic. The libretto features the image of Solveig only six times: thrice in the First act and thrice in the Second. But despite sporadicity and brevity of Solveig’s presence on the stage, this image plays a leading role in the dramaturgy of the ballet, no less significant than Peer Gynt. Today the poem “Peer Gynt” by H. Ibsen is hardly imaginable without E. Grieg’s music. Its score (op. 23) consisted of 28 numbers , and it included dance intermedia and introduction to every Act; dance fragments, genre scenes, portraits, fantastic episodes and landscape sceneries. Later, the composer compiled the most interesting and self-sufficient numbers into two Suites. Conspicuous Romantic style of the score might be compared to the image of blonde-haired maiden Solveig, who betokens pure femininity. The ballet of V. Pisarev consists of 8 tableaus and 3 numbers. In order to create this ballet spectacle, its author used several types of choreographic art to reveal its idea more profoundly. V. Pisarev embodied the plot of H. Ibsen’s poem using a fusion of classical and neo-classical dance as well as a reconstruction of the folklore-scenic Norwegian dance. Ballet master draws attention to the inner world of a protagonist, who is facing a dilemma: either to remain for fix the situation, or to run away once again. Significance of Solveig’s image is emphasized by the choreographic text of the ballet, as her role becomes a plastique leit-motiv of the whole work. Choreographic lexicon of Solveig is founded upon traditional Classical dance and occasional movements of contemporary dance. Conclusions. The image of Solveig is a demanding one, both technically and psychologically as the ballerina must demonstrate advanced technique and high artistry. Solveig’s dance is plastique, sculpture-like, filled with profound psychologism and elaborated expressiveness. Solveig is one of the most powerful and iconic examples of femininity and self-sacrificial love in romantic art keeping its actuality until today.

Abstract The fifth chapter pursues the bear in The Winter’s Tale back to the Arctic to expose the involvement of the Jacobean state and theatre industry in the global fur trade. Whereas theatre historians police boundaries in seeking to determine whether Renaissance drama featured ‘real’ bears, Shakespeare’s romance revels in the indistinction promoted by animal studies. The chapter discovers another important humanimal hybrid in Shakespeare’s representation of Hermione as an ermine, a creature emblematic of the wintery north and queenly chastity. Leontes’s sexual jealousy is symptomatic of an adult male desire to control nature, but the play prescribes an antidote in rural girlhood, idealizing the upbringing of James’s daughter as a feral princess and milkmaid, turning to pastoral romance to model a more benign relationship to the natural world than that exhibited by menageries and Skinners’ pageants, which naturalized royal and mercantile dominion over the icy north and its fur-bearers.

The legendary playwright William Shakespeare is the greatest English dramatist in the world. His plays are widely read and enacted all over the world. In Shakespeare’s plays women are well etched and reflected the universal human nature. In the plays of Shakespeare we come across many strong, resourceful and self confident women who, at times are stronger than men, and they create their own space and represent a spirited independence. The construction of female characters in Shakespeare’s plays reflects the Elizabethan image of women in general. Women of that era were supposed to represent virtues like obedience, silence, sexual chastity, humility, constancy and patience. There were several women in Shakespeare’s plays who assert themselves in very different ways, like-Cleopatra, Portia, Desdemona, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Miranda, Olivia, Rosalinda and Viola. In ‘King Lear’, Cordelia embodies all the angelic and nurturing qualities that the other two Regan & Goneril lack. Regan & Goneril, King Lear’s two monstrous daughters, are archetypal villains from the onset of the play and although they serve well their purpose, they are not as developed as other Shakespeare “Villains”, such as Lady Macbeth. Women is the plays of Shakespeare are the most individualistic heroines and displays a certain poise and maturity even in the tough times and saddest scenes. Women show the “feminine” virtues of love, sacrifice and piety. Few heroines show a loving nature, a tender heart, resolution and dignity like Portia in the merchant of Venice. Evil is the disruptive force and the tragedies show the hellish consequences, which always lead to deaths of the innocent and good. Women appear as supporting and central character in Shakespeare’s play, and these characters, as well as the so called “Dark Lady” of the sonnets, have elicited a substantial amount of criticism, which received added impetus during the second-wave feminism of the 1960s. Early criticism of female characters in Shakespeare’s drama focused on the positive attributes the dramatist bestows on them and often claimed that Shakespeare realistically captured the “essence” of feminity