| 摘要: | 本計畫擬採用雅伯（Lionel Abel）、賴
特（Anne Righter）、伊根（Robert Egan）、
寇德武（James Calderwood）、侯恩比
（Richard Hornby）、胡伯（Judd D. Hubert）
等學者所提出的後設劇場（metatheater）
觀點探討密德頓（Thomas Middleton,
1580-1627）的城市喜劇《米迦勒節開庭期》
（Michaelmas Term, 1604-6）與《奇普賽貞
潔女》（A Chaste Maid in Cheapside,
1611-13）所採取的戲劇手法，包括進場
（entrance）、退場（exit）、旁白（aside）、
獨白（soliloquy）、戲中戲
（play-within-a-play）、偽裝（disguise）、
角色扮演（role-play）等劇場慣見手法對
觀眾看戲與戲劇意義建構的影響。
後設劇場強調戲劇作品的人為塑造
性，劇作家利用自我反身的手法，讓觀眾
注意戲劇本身的媒介，並藉此拓展戲劇與
人生、虛幻與真實、想像與現實不斷辯證
的糾葛。另外，本研究亦將援引梅克
（Maynard Mack）所提出的觀眾觀戲心理
的研究主張，劇作家讓觀眾時而投入
（engagement）、時而抽離（detachment）
戲劇幻相，增加戲劇詮釋的複雜性。郝華
（Jean Howard）仔細分析劇作家如何運用
上述各種戲劇手法，演奏出一場絕妙的戲
劇交響曲，亦為本研究提供了絕佳的分析
模式。
進場與退場看似簡單與理所當然，其
實不然。劇中人的進場與退場方式往往左
右著舞台上在場人物之間的權力關係，有
時甚而影響到觀眾的詮釋角度。例如《米
迦勒節開庭期》一劇的第二幕第三景，湯
瑪心（Thomasine）悄悄出現在舞台「上」
（entrance above）觀看丈夫闊莫多
（Quomodo）以近似金光黨的手法，讓初
到城市的年輕仕紳易立（Easy）以地契交
換不值錢的布匹。她「超越的」舞台位置
不但使她有如天上的神俯視凡間般的卓
越，她對受害者的同情、對丈夫的鄙視，
更直接影響觀眾對闊莫多的不齒。
旁白與獨白常使說話的劇中人直接與
觀眾建立緊密的連結（bond），建立伙伴般
的關係。但是弔詭的是：旁白與獨白跨越
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戲劇與現實的界限，使劇中人跳脫戲劇世
界，直接對觀眾說話，鬆動戲劇幻相；同
時卻也讓觀眾更認同劇中人。
戲中戲也是劇作家常用來推展或延宕
劇情的手法，由於戲中戲與主戲之間的類
比關係，使得戲中戲的運用凸顯出戲劇的
自我反身性（self-reflexivity）。
本研究嘗試分析觀眾看戲的心理，劇
作家如何利用上述種種戲劇手法操控觀眾
的反應與詮釋角度，使觀眾時而入戲、時
而抽離戲劇幻相，不斷挑戰舞台幻境的界
限。
This study explores the stagecraft in
Thomas Middleton’s two city comedies,
Michaelmas Term (1604-6) and A Chaste
Maid in Cheapside (1611-13), in terms of
metatheatrtical critical perspective
advocated by Lionel Abel, James L.
Calderwood, Richard Hornby, and Judd D.
Hubert, to name just a few. This project
discusses some of the most common
theatrical devices: entrance, exit, aside,
soliloquy, play-within-a-play, disguise, and
role-play. The purpose is to study the extent
to which these devices may have on the
fashioning of dramatic significance of the
plays and the manipulation of audience
perception.
Critics of metatheater underscore the
artificiality of dramatic works. They point
out the self-reflexive devices adopted by
playwrights, drawing our attention to the
dramatic medium itself. They show us the
entangled web of the drama to capture
drama/life, illusion/truth, imagination/reality.
This project also deals with the dramatic
mechanism of audience perception proffered
by Maynard Mack who argues that
playwrights use some devices to maintain
“detachment”in order to encourage the
audience’s reflection of the meaning. On the
other hand, playwrights may sometimes
“engage”audience directly to foster
identification with the character. As Jean
Howard’s metaphor may indicate, by
carefully examining the playwright’s “art of
orchestration,”it is possible to excavate
more complicated significance from the
plays studied.
On the first look, entrances and exits
are simple and are usually taken for granted.
But on a second look, we often find that they
could have a decisive influence on the
power relation among the characters
involved. A good example is Thomasine’s
secret entrance in Michaelmas Term. In 2.3,
she enters on the upper stage (“Enter
Thomasine above,”2.3.103sd) when
Quomodo cheats Easy with a commodity
scam. She stands above others in a position
resembling a god. Thus, her sympathy
towards the victim and her contempt
towards her husband may have a strong
impact on audience’s perception of the
scene.
An aside and a soliloquy are both
devices to build a bond and a partnership
between a character and his/her audience.
But the paradox is: they disrupt the
theatrical illusion by removing a character
from the layer of theatrical illusion and
projecting him/her to the layer of reality
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from which the audience observes the play;
they intensify the theatrical illusion by
constructing a strong bond between a
character and his/her audience.
A play-within-a-play is a device that
dramatists use to suspense or intensify the
plot. It can instill a fuller insight into the
interplay of illusion and reality, presenting
two, sometimes even more, different planes
of dramatic illusion. It mirrors the larger
play in some details, bringing forward the
self-reflexivity of a dramatic work.
In sum, this study endeavors to analyze
the psychology of audience perception. It
tries to explore the extent to which a
playwright manipulates his audience and its
perception of the plays through a careful
orchestration of these theatrical devices.
Meanwhile, the playwright keeps
challenging the limit of theatrical illusion,
blurring the boundary of illusion and reality. |
