The Social and Political Issues of Brothers in British Drama in the Long Eighteenth Century

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370266
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: IWATA Miki 東北大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (50361051)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: イギリス演劇 / アイルランド文学 / 家族論

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research, dealing with the representations of brothers in British/Irish drama in the long eighteenth century (1688-1837), aimed at clarifying the drastic shift of their dramatic meanings through analyses of individual plays. During this period, the British economy gradually veered from the land-based economy which presupposed primogeniture to the mercantile economic system closely connected with imperialism. Accordingly, while younger brothers in early modern drama, banished from their patrimony, are depicted as a socially liminal existence, later theatrical texts move them to centre stage as merchants and soldiers who would play significant parts in the British Empire.

Free Research Field

英米文学