"Rhetorical Byron: An interpretation of his historical tragedies" by Vicki Maxine Bertolino

Award Date

1-1-1997

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication Studies

First Committee Member

Evan Blythin

Number of Pages

143

Abstract

This thesis shows that Lord Byron's history plays in particular may be works of fiction, but they may also be viewed as rhetorical discourses because they can be seen as direct responses to the complex social and political issues emerging from both the Industrial and French Revolutions. This claim was demonstrated by using a contemporary concept of rhetoric, Lloyd Bitzer's "The Rhetorical Situation." The major findings of this study were that Lord Byron was a rhetorician because his plays reflected a specific rhetorical situation, yet he also failed as a rhetorician because of his selection of an abstract, idealized audience and abstract issues. Because the problem he was addressing remains relevant today, a study of Lord Byron's dramas-as-discourse is an important addition to the study of literature-as-rhetoric.

Keywords

Lord Byron; Historical; Interpretation; Rhetorical; Tragedies

Controlled Subject

Communication; Theater; British literature; English literature--Irish authors; Irish literature

File Format

pdf

File Size

4956.16 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Permissions

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Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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