The rise of the psychological play

This chapter traces how the performance of consciousness in play texts evolved from the Middle Ages through the 19th-century symbolist movement, which coincided with the rise of psychological sciences and renewed interest in dreams. It argues that modernist plays used radical departures from conventional dramatic tropes to covertly express waking consciousness, while dream plays overtly mirrored dreaming consciousness. Using Strindberg's A Dream Play as a case study, the chapter explores how these techniques facilitated new forms of theatrical representation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter outlines the rise of the performance of consciousness in play texts from the Middle Ages onwards, focusing on the key art movement of the 19th century of symbolism which concurred with the rise of the psychological sciences and a renewed interest in dreams. It explores how radical departures from the conventional tropes of the drama and storytelling facilitated the covert expression of waking consciousness in the modernist play, and overt mirroring of dreaming consciousness in the dream play, using Strindberg’s A Dream Play as a case study.