The Death of the Playwright? - Modern British Drama and Literary Theory - Insights

Sep 20, 2026

Nine essays examine issues from contemporary literary theory through modern drama. The authors develop new approaches rooted in post-structuralism, semiotics, feminism, Bakhtinian theory, and psychoanalysis, and they re-read well-known canonical works through these frameworks. The introduction engages theoretical debates raised by Barthes’ essay “The Death of the Author” and maps writing on the relationship between theory and drama. The collection surveys a broad range of dramatists across the modern period.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages223

Reading Time5 h 43 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Acknowledgements

Notes on the Contributors

Introduction

The World Made Flesh': Women and Theatre

Popular Drama and Realism: The Case of Television

Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey as Serious Text: A Semiotic Reading

The Eye of Judgement: Samuel Beckett's Later Drama

Bakhtin, Foucault, Beckett, Pinter

Forms of Dissent in Contemporary Drama and Contemporary Theory

An Age of Surfaces: Joe Orton's Drama and Postmodernism

The Plays of Caryl Churchill: Essays in Refusal

Staging the Other Scene: a Psychoanalytic Approach to Contemporary British Political Drama

Select Bibliography

Index

General Editor:Clive BloomInsights THE DEATH 0FTHE PLAYWRIGHT? Modern BritishDrama andLiterary Theory Edited byAdrian Page Insights General Editor:Clive Bloom,Principal Lecturer in English,MiddlesexPolytechnic Editorial Board:Clive Bloom,Brian Docherty,Gary Day,Lesley Bloomand Hazel Day Insights brings to academics,students and general readers the verybest contemporary criticism on neglected literary and cultural areas.It consists of anthologies,each containing original contributions byadvanced scholars and experts.Each contribution concentrates on astudy of a particular work,author or genre in its artistic,historicaland cultural context. Published titles Clive Bloom(editor) JACOBEAN POETRY AND PROSE:Rhetoric,Representation andthe Popular Imagination TWENTIETH-CENTURY SUSPENSE:The Thriller Comes of Age SPY THRILLERS:From Buchan to le Carré Clive Bloom,Brian Docherty,Jane Gibb and Keith Shand(editors)NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUSPENSE:From Poe to Conan Doyle Gary Day(editor)READINGS IN POPULAR CULTURE:Trivial Pursuits? Gary Day and Clive Bloom(editors) PERSPECTIVES ON PORNOGRAPHY:Sexuality in Film andLiterature Brian Docherty(editor) AMERICAN CRIME FICTION:Studies in the Genre AMERICANHORROR FICTION:From Brockden Brown to StephenKing Rhys Garnett and R.J.Ellis(editors) SCIENCE FICTION ROOTS AND BRANCHES:ContemporaryCritical Approaches Robert Giddings(editor)LITERATURE AND IMPERIALISM Robert Giddings,Keith Selby and Chris Wensley SCREENING THE NOVEL:The Theory and Practice of LiteraryDramatisation Paul Hyland and Neil Sammells(editors)IRISH WRITING:Exile and Subversion Mark Lilly(editor)LESBIAN AND GAY WRITING:An Anthology of Critical Essays Christopher Mulvey and John Simons(editors)NEW YORK:City as Text Adrian Page(editor) THE DEATH OF THE PLAYWRIGHT?Modern British Dramaand Literary Theory Jeffrey Walsh and James Aulich(editors)VIETNAM IMAGES:War and Representation The Death of thePlaywright? Modern British Drama andLiterary Theory Edited by Adrian PagePrincipal Lecturer in English andCommunication StudiesLuton College of Higher Education ◎ The Editorial Board,Lumiere Cooperative Press Ltd 1992 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmissionof this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied ortransmitted save with written permission or in accordance withthe provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copyingissued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,33-4 Alfred Place,London WC1E 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation tothis publication may be liable to criminal prosecution andcivil claims for damages. First published 1992 Published by MACMILLAN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL LTDHoundmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG212XSand London Companies and representativesthroughout the world British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data The death of the playwright?Modern British drama andliterary theory.—(Insights) 1.Drama in English,—1945—Critical Studies I.Page,Adrian II.Series82291409 ISBN 978-0-333-51316-3 ISBN 978-1-349-21906-3(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-1-349-21906-3 Contents Preface Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors ix1 1 IntroductionAdrian Page 2 The World Made Flesh':Women and Theatre2Judith Thompson 3 Popular Drama and Realism:The Case of Television43Chris Pawling and Tessa Perkins 4 Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey as Serious Text:67A Semiotic ReadingEdward J.Esche 5 The Eye of Judgement:Samuel Beckett's Later Drama 82Audrey McMullan 6 Bakhtin,Foucault,Beckett,Pinter97Peter Griffith 7 Forms of Dissent in Contemporary Drama and115Contemporary TheoryRick Rylance 8 An Age of Surfaces:Joe Orton's Drama and142PostmodernismAdrian Page 9 The Plays of Caryl Churchill:Essays in Refusal160Jane Thomas Contents vi Staging the Other Scene:a Psychoanalytic Approach

FAQs

What themes does the book’s preface say the essays address?

The essays debate issues arising from contemporary literary theory and apply those ideas to modern drama, emphasizing new theoretical approaches and re-reading canonical works.

Which theoretical traditions are highlighted as sources for the authors’ approaches?

The preface lists post-structuralism, semiotics, feminism, Bakhtinian theory, and psychoanalysis as the foundations for the essays’ methods.

How does the introduction connect theory and drama in the collection?

The introduction addresses theoretical issues raised by Barthes’ “The Death of the Author” and surveys writing on the relationship between literary theory and drama.

Sep 20, 2026

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