明清女性劇作裡的一個重要主題，正是個體如何面對時間流逝過程裡所帶來的各種變化。其中包括人事無常、時局轉換，以及生死別離所帶來的傷痛。這篇論文將討論明清女性劇作家的戲曲作品裡將人生遭遇與心境感受轉化成劇本的寫作過程，以及她們如何透過劇情的安排與文本的結構設計，反映出殊異於現實、卻更貼近內在心理時間、情感節奏與生命想望的文本時空；進而探索女性劇作家以虛構劇本落實對於各種人生課題的思考，劇本在形式上所呈現的時間藝術，以及藉書寫追求生命永恆的創作意圖。

In this research I will discuss the significance of time as reflected in the theme and structure of the dramas written by female playwrights of the Ming and Qing dynasties. I plan to give particular attention to how they use plot development and different themes to reveal their views on the flow of time, the impermanence of worldly affairs, and the limitations of a human lifetime. I will also examine how the structure and significance of time is reflected in the form of their scripts, which exhibit a unique chronotope fashioned out of their inner yearnings and subjective experience of time. Finally, I will investigate the actual lives of these playwrights, in an effort to determine how they used their writing to present their ideas on time and life, protest the transience of life, and attempt to enter into eternity.