Sonata Form As Narrative Framework As In Shakespeare's Hamlet

This thesis aims at applying structural analysis of musical forms to the structural analysis of narratives at the level of fabula under two principles. The first is that, due to the epistemological uniqueness of every story both as itself and as reflected in its recipient's perception, structural universality is impossible to attain yet not impossible to gain the status as a regionally applicable regularity. Therefore the concept of "storyworld" is introduced to dissuade the pursuit of universality in the application of structuralism, yet still keep open the possibility of the regional application of a certain structure in more than one texts. The second is that, since it is at the level of fabula that the meaning of every componential elements of a narrative is settled and revealed, structural analysis of the elements is accomplished only at this level.Structuralism in narratology is reviewed and critiqued in detail, revealing a lack of trans-regional, all-inclusive structural proposal at the level of fabula and above, where structural analysis of musical forms may be of help. Traditional structural analysis of musical forms, which begins with chords within keys, is here rewritten, beginning from the very basics of music - the tones. Structural analysis in the two disciplines is compared at every level from the basic units of each to fabula and musical form. A case study of the sonata form proves successful in drawing parallel from all the levels, which proves the possibility of its application to the analysis of narratives.Shakespeare's Hamlet is analyzed as a case study, in which sonata form succeeds in revealing the inner structure of the play, the source as well as the ebb and the flow of the tension in it, and the relationship and interaction of the characters, their positioning in the play, and how their full portrait is carried out.