| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 外國語文學研究所 === 105 === This thesis aims to explore how Carr employs elements of Greek tragedy in her plays, especially in her depictions of female characters. Another focus will be on how her female characters and their subsequent deaths subvert the gender roles expected of women in Greek tragedies. The textual analysis of Carr’s Greek-themed works will be on The Mai, Portia Coughlan, and By the Bog of Cats… Besides having Greek allusions or being loosely based on Greek tragedies, the three plays shared a feature in which the death of women seems destined. Specifically, all three plays feature a female protagonist, and it is these women that dominate the flow of narratives in the plays, which corresponds to some of the major female characters in Greek tragedies.
While Irish drama and Greek tragedy are created under very different circumstances and for very different audiences, there are parallels between Carr’s characters to Greek female figures such as Medea, Antigone, etc. While Greek tragedy might not always feature such prominent female characters as main protagonists, the characterization of women as opposed their significant functions in Carr’s and Greek narrative will be a point of comparison. Lastly, the thesis will interrogate whether Carr’s female characters could be “tragic heroines” in accordance to the “tragic heroes” commonly seen in Greek tragedies and as defined by Aristotle.
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