The Reception of Sophocles'"Antigone" in Early Modern English Drama

This thesis analyses the reception of Sophocles’ Antigone in early modern English drama in the form of translation and adaptation. It focusses on the only two extant texts that can be defined as a translation or an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone by English authors in the early modern period: "Sophoclis Antigone" (1581), a Latin translation by Thomas Watson, and "The Tragedy of Antigone, The Theban Princesse" (1631), an English adaptation by Thomas May. Opting for the historicist strand within reception studies, I argue that these two English Antigones intersect at a crossroads of contexts – theoretical, cultural, literary, and political. Only within these perspectives can these plays be fully understood and their value reassessed. Combining Sophocles’ tragedy both with other classical sources and contemporary models, the two texts challenge the traditional understanding of the early modern compositional approaches of "translation" and "adaptation". Moreover, by potentially alluding to contemporary events, Watson’s and May’s versions of Antigone partly align with, partly destabilize modern interpretations of the Sophoclean original. As direct and declared engagements with the Sophoclean play, Watson’s and May’s "Antigones" are ideal case studies for the flexible conception of the practices of translation and adaptation and for the close relationship between politics and drama in the early modern period.