| This thesis explicates the theatrical career of George Kelly (1887--1974), actor, playwright, director, and The Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama in 1926, by examining satire and the techniques of characterization in his plays.; Chapter One explicates George Kelly's vaudeville routines by focusing on satire and wit. It traces his brand of comedy of manners back to the time of the Restoration and recognizes the similarities in character types between American vaudeville and Restoration drama. These early vaudeville elements of Kelly's dramatic technique were to become his trademark.; Chapter Two examines satirical elements in four comedies of George Kelly: The Torch-Bearers, The Show-Off, Philip Goes Forth and Reflected Glory. Satire in these plays springs from the dialogue and not from the action of Kelly's plot, resulting in verbal rather than situational comedy closely resembling vaudevillian hokum.; Chapter Three elaborates upon Kelly's repertoire of characterization devices by focusing on six female characters in Craig's Wife, Daisy Mayme, Behold the Bridegroom, Maggie the Magnificent, The Deep Mrs. Sykes, and The Fatal Weakness.; In the conclusion this thesis views the dramatic output of George Kelly as the bridge in the American drama between "drawing room comedies of good manners" written by Philip Barry and S. N. Behrman and "living room comedies of bad manners" written by Edward Albee. |
