Craig Paterson

DPhil in Literature and Arts

Thesis

Shakespeare and the Emotional Father on the Victorian Stage.

Research abstract

Victorian productions of Shakespeare engaged with the complex notion of fatherhood. These productions were devised and received by creative networks that included practitioners from many disciplines, including literary critics, journalists, scientists, philosophers, artists, and designers. My thesis uses methodologies from each of these disciplines to varying degrees, but the central fields are English literature, theatre history, and social history. Specifically, I discuss performances of Shakespeare’s fathers on the Victorian stage alongside nineteenth-century notions of paternity.  The argument is supported by regular references to contemporary nineteenth-century literature, including novels by Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope, and through analysis of illustrations that appear in Victorian editions of Shakespeare’s texts. An interdisciplinary approach will allow me to determine the commonalities between these interdependent fields and draw conclusions based on what the findings collectively signify.

Supervisor(s)

Dr Lynn Robson, Regent's College, lynn.robson@regents.ox.ac.uk

Dr Sophie Duncan, Christ Church College, sophie.duncan@chch.ox.ac.uk

Biography

I started my DPhil in Literature and Arts with ContEd in 2019 having completed the MSt the previous year. Prior to that, I studied for a degree in English literature with Open University. The DLA has allowed me to combine my two main research interests: ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘Victorian culture’. During the summer of 2022, I co-organised and participated in the DLA’s first ever conference alongside some of the other DLA cohorts, including Kate Waters. I am also the student representative for the DLA, and I would be very happy to talk to potential applicants about the course and the application process. 

Publications

Co-editor - Vides, Vol.6, 2018, Online vides_2018.pdf (ox.ac.uk)

Papers and lectures

‘King Lear, and the overwhelming emotional bond between father and daughter in Victorian drama’, based on my DPhil research, at The London Stage and the Nineteenth-Century World IV Conference, 6 April 2022.

Research interests

Shakespeare; nineteenth-century drama and literature; Victorian notions on the nature of emotions, masculinity, femininity, sexuality, fatherhood/motherhood, education/child development, science, and philosophy; the British Empire; performance history (professional and amateur); theatre history; Victorian actors; Victorian biographical writing.