The Drunkard as a Drama of the Temperance Movement

The Drunkard as a Drama of the Temperance Movement PDF Author: Julia Stenzinger
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638479501
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2, University of Kassel, language: English, abstract: Introduction The Drunkard by William Henry Smith was first staged at the Boston Museum in 1844 and shown 144 times within one year. Being a mass media, the theater reached a large audience and the drama was a great success. At the time the drama was staged, the temperance movement was at the peak of its popularity and success. Today the Boston Museum is regarded as the birthplace of American temperance drama. In 1850, when the play had already achieved national recognition, B. T. Barnum staged The Drunkard at the famous American Museum on lower Broadway. On October 7th 1850 the audience was able to watch the 100th consecutive performance of the play. “Barnum’s production of The Drunkard heralded the entry of temperance narratives into mainstream theatre and immediately became the standard against which all other temperance dramas were measured” (Frick 113). In this paper I will first present a short historical survey of the temperance movement. At a time when drinking alcohol was part of every day life and the negative consequences that resulted from alcohol abuse were severe and obvious, the goal of the temperance movement was to achieve a social reform in the long term. The aim was to put an end to moral decline, crime, poverty and diseases. Alcohol addicts should be persuaded to stop drinking and supported in their effort. They should sign the pledge and abstain from alcohol. The melodrama The Drunkard or The Fallen Saved is an excellent example of the way the theater was used as a means to present the social, moral and personal consequences of intemperance to the audience. The main focus of this paper will be on the criticism of alcohol abuse in The Drunkard. By close reading I will analyze how Edward Middleton’s and his family’s life changes due to the fact that Edward starts drinking too much alcohol and becomes an addict. But, as the title suggests, the drama also shows that alcohol addicts can be saved and rebuild their lives if they are strong enough and stop drinking. Thus, The Drunkard is a perfect example of the theatricalization of temperance propaganda. The theater was the ideal means to communicate the temperance message of abstinence, and the audience was entertained and received a moral lesson at the same time. The Drunkard was “by far the most prominent and influential [...], a play destined to become one of the most popular and best-known temperance dramas of all time” (Frick 113).

The Drunkard as a Drama of the Temperance Movement

The Drunkard as a Drama of the Temperance Movement PDF Author: Julia Stenzinger
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638479501
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2, University of Kassel, language: English, abstract: Introduction The Drunkard by William Henry Smith was first staged at the Boston Museum in 1844 and shown 144 times within one year. Being a mass media, the theater reached a large audience and the drama was a great success. At the time the drama was staged, the temperance movement was at the peak of its popularity and success. Today the Boston Museum is regarded as the birthplace of American temperance drama. In 1850, when the play had already achieved national recognition, B. T. Barnum staged The Drunkard at the famous American Museum on lower Broadway. On October 7th 1850 the audience was able to watch the 100th consecutive performance of the play. “Barnum’s production of The Drunkard heralded the entry of temperance narratives into mainstream theatre and immediately became the standard against which all other temperance dramas were measured” (Frick 113). In this paper I will first present a short historical survey of the temperance movement. At a time when drinking alcohol was part of every day life and the negative consequences that resulted from alcohol abuse were severe and obvious, the goal of the temperance movement was to achieve a social reform in the long term. The aim was to put an end to moral decline, crime, poverty and diseases. Alcohol addicts should be persuaded to stop drinking and supported in their effort. They should sign the pledge and abstain from alcohol. The melodrama The Drunkard or The Fallen Saved is an excellent example of the way the theater was used as a means to present the social, moral and personal consequences of intemperance to the audience. The main focus of this paper will be on the criticism of alcohol abuse in The Drunkard. By close reading I will analyze how Edward Middleton’s and his family’s life changes due to the fact that Edward starts drinking too much alcohol and becomes an addict. But, as the title suggests, the drama also shows that alcohol addicts can be saved and rebuild their lives if they are strong enough and stop drinking. Thus, The Drunkard is a perfect example of the theatricalization of temperance propaganda. The theater was the ideal means to communicate the temperance message of abstinence, and the audience was entertained and received a moral lesson at the same time. The Drunkard was “by far the most prominent and influential [...], a play destined to become one of the most popular and best-known temperance dramas of all time” (Frick 113).

The Drunkard, Or, The Fallen Saved!.

The Drunkard, Or, The Fallen Saved!. PDF Author: William Henry Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Temperance
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America

Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America PDF Author: John W. Frick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521817781
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
This book examines the role of temperance drama in American theatre and compares the American genre to its British counterpart.

Early American Drama

Early American Drama PDF Author: Various
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780140435887
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 564

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Book Description
This unique volume includes eight early dramas that mirror American literary, social, and cultural history: Royall Tylers The Contrast (1789); William Dunlap'sAndre (1798); James Nelson Barker's The Indian Princess (1808); Robert Montgomery Bird's The Gladiator (1831); William Henry Smith's The Drunkard(1844); Anna Cora Mowatt's Fashion (1845); George Aiken's Uncle Tom's Cabin(1852); and Dion Boucicault's The Octoroon (1859). For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol PDF Author: Scott C. Martin
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483331083
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 1674

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Book Description
Alcohol consumption goes to the very roots of nearly all human societies. Different countries and regions have become associated with different sorts of alcohol, for instance, the “beer culture” of Germany, the “wine culture” of France, Japan and saki, Russia and vodka, the Caribbean and rum, or the “moonshine culture” of Appalachia. Wine is used in religious rituals, and toasts are used to seal business deals or to celebrate marriages and state dinners. However, our relation with alcohol is one of love/hate. We also regulate it and tax it, we pass laws about when and where it’s appropriate, we crack down severely on drunk driving, and the United States and other countries tried the failed “Noble Experiment” of Prohibition. While there are many encyclopedias on alcohol, nearly all approach it as a substance of abuse, taking a clinical, medical perspective (alcohol, alcoholism, and treatment). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol examines the history of alcohol worldwide and goes beyond the historical lens to examine alcohol as a cultural and social phenomenon, as well—both for good and for ill—from the earliest days of humankind.

Alcohol and Moral Regulation

Alcohol and Moral Regulation PDF Author: Henry Yeomans
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447309936
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Alcohol consumption is frequently described as a contemporary, worsening and peculiarly British social problem that requires radical remedial regulation. Informed by historical research and sociological analysis, this book takes an innovative and refreshing look at how public attitudes and the regulation of alcohol have developed through time. It argues that, rather than a response to trends in consumption or harm, ongoing anxieties about alcohol are best understood as ‘hangovers’ derived, in particular, from the Victorian period. The product of several years of research, this book aims to help readers re-evaluate their understandings of drinking. As such, it is essential reading for students, academics and anyone with a serious interest in Britain’s ‘drink problem’.

The Alcoholic Republic

The Alcoholic Republic PDF Author: W.J. Rorabaugh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199766312
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Rorabaugh has written a well thought out and intriguing social history of Americas great alcoholic binge that occurred between 1790 and 1830, what he terms a key formative period in our history....A pioneering work that illuminates a part of our heritage that can no longer be neglected in future studies of Americas social fabric. A bold and frequently illuminating attempt to investigate the relationship of a single social custom to the central features of our historical experience....A book which always asks interesting questions and provides many provocative answers.

Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History [2 volumes]

Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History [2 volumes] PDF Author: Jack S. Blocker Jr.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1576078345
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 805

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Book Description
A comprehensive encyclopedia on all aspects of the production, consumption, and social impact of alcohol. Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia spans the history of alcohol production and consumption from the development of distilled spirits and modern manufacturing and distribution methods to the present. Authoritative and unbiased, it brings together the work of hundreds of experts from a variety of disciplines with an emphasis on the extraordinary wealth of scholarship developed in the past several decades. Its nearly 500 alphabetically organized entries range beyond the principal alcoholic beverages and major producers and retailers to explore attitudes toward alcohol in various countries and religions, traditional drinking occasions and rituals, and images of drinking and temperance in art, painting, literature, and drama. Other entries describe international treaties and organizations related to alcohol production and distribution, global consumption patterns, and research and treatment institutions, as well as temperance, prohibition, and antiprohibitionist efforts worldwide.

The Youth's Temperance Lecturer

The Youth's Temperance Lecturer PDF Author: Charles Jewett
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children's literature
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description


Manhood Lost

Manhood Lost PDF Author: Elaine Frantz Parsons
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801871665
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
In its discounting of the importance of free will, argues Elaine Frantz Parsons, this story led to increased emphasis on environmental influences as root causes of drunkenness, poverty, and moral corruption - thus inadvertently opening the door to state intervention in the form of Prohibition.".