ABSTRACT

Title of Thesis: STAGING AN EMPIRE: HOW LATE VICTORIAN THEATRE REPRESENTS PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Nicholas Appleton, Master of Arts, 2019

Thesis Directed By: Mircea Raianu PhD, Assistant Professor of History

This thesis denotes the changing perception of the British empire among the general populace during the late Victorian period. By placing the plays of Dion Boucicault and Gilbert and Sullivan into the larger historical context, this thesis also comments on the larger historiographical debate about the influence of imperialism on popular culture between John MacKenzie and Bernard Porter.