Research Article


DOI :10.26650/jtcd.861023   IUP :10.26650/jtcd.861023    Full Text (PDF)

Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing

Ben Haworth

This essay argues that Shakespeare’s natural fools, clowns, rustics, and buffoons provide far more than light comic relief. Using the example of Dogberry, from Much Ado About Nothing, I demonstrate that in allowing his fools to usurp their position of clownish caricature, to move outside of their normal social spheres, Shakespeare exposes the folly within societal institutions. Though an examination of language, namely the use of malapropisms, and the manipulation of traditional licence extended to natural fools, I contend that such theatrical depictions of folly opened the way for social commentary, parody and inversions of hierarchies of power on the stage.


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References

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Citations

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APA

Haworth, B. (2021). Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing. Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, 0(32), 115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


AMA

Haworth B. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing. Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy. 2021;0(32):115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


ABNT

Haworth, B. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing. Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, [Publisher Location], v. 0, n. 32, p. 115-124, 2021.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Haworth, Ben,. 2021. “Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing.” Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 0, no. 32: 115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


Chicago: Humanities Style

Haworth, Ben,. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing.” Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 0, no. 32 (Dec. 2024): 115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


Harvard: Australian Style

Haworth, B 2021, 'Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing', Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, vol. 0, no. 32, pp. 115-124, viewed 26 Dec. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Haworth, B. (2021) ‘Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing’, Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, 0(32), pp. 115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023 (26 Dec. 2024).


MLA

Haworth, Ben,. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing.” Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, vol. 0, no. 32, 2021, pp. 115-124. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023


Vancouver

Haworth B. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing. Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy [Internet]. 26 Dec. 2024 [cited 26 Dec. 2024];0(32):115-124. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023 doi: 10.26650/jtcd.861023


ISNAD

Haworth, Ben. Dog’s Day: Natural Folly and Subversion in Much Ado About Nothing”. Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 0/32 (Dec. 2024): 115-124. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.861023



TIMELINE


Submitted14.01.2021
Accepted15.03.2021
Published Online17.06.2021

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