Defense Date

4-1-2016

Graduation Date

Spring 2016

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MA

Department

English

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Laura Engel

Committee Member

Greg Barnhisel

Keywords

18th Century, British Empire, British Theater, Gardening

Abstract

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.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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