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An archetypal study of the fertility angel paradigm in dramatic literature
Abstract
Within the multi-faceted paradigm of the traditional angel exists the archetype of the fertility angel. Typically, the figure exhibits power over the human natal process and also promotes agricultural fecundity. The angel was also believed to offer blessings of wholeness to the individual, as well as the community. The fertility angel appears in myth, folk tale and literature both before and after the advent of the Christian era. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the archetype's presence in dramatic literature and analyze how the paradigm functions in its various modes. Four chapters form the body of this work. The first two trace the archetype historically through various mythologies, while the final two chapters focus on its use in dramatic literature. Chapter one illuminates the widespread existence of the archetype by analyzing angelic models that appear in diverse cultural and religious myths before the influence of Christianity. Chapter two suggests that the fertility angel was a part of Christian culture before it was supplanted by more familiar paradigms shaped by early Church leaders and theologians. Nonetheless the archetype recurrently appears, even into the twentieth century. Chapter three examines the fertility angel as it appears in dramatic works, beginning with angelic prototypes in Greek and Roman literature, moving to the angel characters of Medieval and Renaissance works, before finally concluding with nineteenth-century plays. Chapter four represents my area of specialization, twentieth-century American history. This chapter analyzes the fertility angel character as it appears in the works of such playwrights as Bertolt Brecht, William Gibson, Tony Kushner, Arthur Miller, and Thornton Wilder, among others. The playwrights' treatment of the fertility angel paradigm is examined in light of the historical and literary antecedents.
Subject Area
Theater|Religious history|Folklore|American literature|Comparative literature|Germanic literature
Recommended Citation
Solomonson, Michael C, "An archetypal study of the fertility angel paradigm in dramatic literature" (1996). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9700105.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9700105