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Chapter 7 - Theatres of Sleep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2023

Claudia Olk
Affiliation:
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
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Summary

A final chapter analyses the idea of sleep and closure in The Tempest, Waiting for Godot, The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Cascando, Nacht und Träume, Footfalls and Rockaby. The rhythm of sleeping and waking pervades the diurnal structure of Waiting for Godot, and many of Beckett’s characters sleep waking or wake sleeping. Likewise, the chapter addresses the many ways in which Shakespeare’s œuvre stages sleep. Staged sleep introduces a further level to the theatrical experience of seeing and being seen, of active and passive characters. In Shakespeare’s and in Beckett’s plays sleep can be read as a liminal state, in which the bodily presence simultaneously refers to a mental absence. Sleep, the chapter argues, becomes a productive meta-dramatic state, in which the theatre foregrounds the boundary between reality and illusion that affects the relation between the actor and the audience.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Theatres of Sleep
  • Claudia Olk, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Shakespeare and Beckett
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009082402.008
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  • Theatres of Sleep
  • Claudia Olk, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Shakespeare and Beckett
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009082402.008
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Theatres of Sleep
  • Claudia Olk, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Shakespeare and Beckett
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009082402.008
Available formats
×