الفهرس 
Theoretical FrameOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The concept of power is often associated with negative connotations. The researcher in this thesis presents its positive illustration as Foucault has portrayed it. With the use of multiple of his works, the researcher also presents Foucault’s concepts of knowledge, resistance, and discourse.
This thesis is divided into an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The introduction is divided into two parts. The first part briefly offers a general definition to the concept of power through Foucault’s works. It also introduces the playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The second part offers a literature review and research questions.
Chapter one handles the theoretical frame. It presents the Foucauldian concepts used in the analysis of Ayckbourn’s selected plays. They are power, knowledge, resistance, and discourse.
Chapter two, entitled “Power and Resistance in This Is where We Came In” studies Ayckbourn’s first play in light of Foucault’s concepts of power and resistance. It discusses the changing power relations between two groups of characters. The first group includes the storytellers who try to monopolize the power of storytelling and deny it to the second group. The second group, on the other hand, is a group of story players who resist the storytellers to regain their power of storytelling.
Chapter three, “Power and Knowledge in My Very Own Story” handles the theme of power in relation to knowledge in Ayckbourn’s second selected play. My Very Own Story portrays three storytellers, who are in a struggle of power. They fight over who gets to tell his “very own story”. With the use of each other’s knowledge, they end up telling one great interesting story built on each other’s narration. This helps make each storyteller’s story a better one. Moreover, they help develop each other’s fictional characters.
Chapter four, “Discourse in The Boy Who Fell Into A Book” presents the actions of power and resistance embodied in the discourse, as in regulations, of the play’s books. In this play, we see Kevin, a boy who is an avid reader, fall into his favourite detective’s book. Together with Rockfist Slim, the detective, they journey through Kevin’s books to find out the identity of his nemesis the Green Shark. The chapter analyzes the play and illustrates how discourse embodies its actions of power and resistance, as per Foucault’s ideas.
The conclusion sums up the findings of the thesis. It shows Foucault’s theme power and the related concepts in each play. It offers an answer to the research questions posed in the introduction.