Proper names and plot progression in Jack London’s play <i>Theft</i>

Abstract This article adopts a corpus linguistics approach to investigate proper names of characters in an American modern play, Jack London’s Theft: A Play in Four Acts ( 1910 ). The analysis of proper names in drama has tended to link character names to characterization. As a result, the relationship between proper names and plot progression has been largely overlooked. The paper focuses on patterns and shifts in how the two main characters in Theft are addressed and referred to using their proper names. The findings suggest that proper names can be linked to plot progression in plays and, to a lesser extent, might reveal aspects about the relationship between authors, and their readers and audiences. The study provides a new understanding of how proper names can be linked to plot progression, and how they contribute to the construction of meaning in drama.