Behind the Pas de Deux: Unveiling the Spatiality Embedded within Degas’ ‘The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage’ (1873/4) Part 2 Dissertation 2024 Niamh Douglas Queen's University Belfast | UK ‘The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage’ (1873/4) by Edgar Degas captures a moment in 19th- century Parisian architecture and spatial dynamics. Proceeding from a close reading of the painting and detailed analysis using analytical drawings of architecture and space, as well as drawing upon feminist, Marxian and theatre theory, this dissertation employs a multi- dimensional methodology to uncover layers within Degas’s famous work, offering new insights into its complexity and significance.Dissecting its architectural backdrop and exploring its spatial arrangements within broader ideas of modernist art and its relationship – through ideas of collage – to issues of time and space, I propose new ways of reading the artist’s engagement with social constructs and power dynamics and gender roles in the ballet world to provoke further reflection on the urban cultural fabric of Paris. By contextualising Degas’ work thus, the dissertation offers insights into the socio-political dynamics of the era and architecture’s role in shaping cultural narratives. Not only does this approach provide a renewed understanding of ‘The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage,’ but also potentially recalibrates attitudes towards women's spatial position and significance in art and architectural history. Niamh Douglas Tutor(s) Gary Boyd