ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, I presented my thesis in broad strokes. In this chapter, I continue my study by further exploring how adaptations of Shakespeare represent, and so doing express, the Restoration culture’s understanding of human psychology through its presentation on the stage. In my analysis of Tate’s Lear, I have already shown how the adaptive project addresses the presence of psychosis by modeling a therapeutic cure. In sum, I have argued that the rise of that dramatic genre called Romance (or alternately Tragi-Comedy) is best seen as a phenomenon responsive to the culture’s desire to witness the successful traversal of psychosis when presented as the narrative arc of a drama.
