A Companion to Renaissance Drama (eBook)

Arthur F. Kinney is Copeland Professor of Literary History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Director of the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies. He is the editor of A Companion to Renaissance Drama (Blackwell, 2002) and of the journal English Literary Renaissance. His other recent publications include Lies like Truth: Shakespeare, Macbeth, and the Cultural Moment (2001) and Shakespeare by Stages (Blackwell, 2002).

List of Illustrations xi

Notes on Contributors xii

Acknowledgments xviii

Introduction: The Dramatic World of the Renaissance 1

Arthur F. Kinney

PART ONE The Drama's World 11

1 The Politics of Renaissance England 13

Norman Jones

2 Political Thought and the Theater, 1580-1630 25

Annabel Patterson

3 Religious Persuasions, c.1580-c.1620 40

Lori Anne Ferrell

4 Social Discourse and the Changing Economy 50

Lee Beier

5 London and Westminster 68

Ian W. Archer

6 Vagrancy 83

William C. Carroll

7 Family and Household 93

Martin Ingram

8 Travel and Trade 109

William H. Sherman

9 Everyday Custom and Popular Culture 121

Michael Bristol

10 Magic and Witchcraft 135

Deborah Willis

PART TWO The World of Drama 145

11 Playhouses 147

Herbert Berry

12 The Transmission of an English Renaissance Play-Text
163

Grace Ioppolo

13 Playing Companies and Repertory 180

Roslyn L. Knutson

14 Must the Devil Appear?: Audiences, Actors, Stage Business
193

S. P. Cerasano

15 "The Actors are Come Hither": Traveling Companies
212

Peter H. Greenfield

16 Jurisdiction of Theater and Censorship 223

Richard Dutton

PART THREE Kinds of Drama 237

17 Medieval and Reformation Roots 239

Raphael Falco

18 The Academic Drama 257

Robert S. Knapp

19 "What Revels are in Hand?": Performances in the
Great Households 266

Suzanne Westfall

20 Progresses and Court Entertainments 281

R. Malcolm Smuts

21 Civic Drama 294

Lawrence Manley

22 Boy Companies and Private Theaters 314

Michael Shapiro

23 Revenge Tragedy 326

Eugene D. Hill

24 Staging the Malcontent in Early Modern England 336

Mark Thornton Burnett

25 City Comedy 353

John A. Twyning

26 Domestic Tragedy: Private Life on the Public Stage 367

Lena Cowen Orlin

27 Romance and Tragicomedy 384

Maurice Hunt

28 Gendering the Stage 399

Alison Findlay

29 Closet Drama

Marta Straznicky 416

PART FOUR Dramatists 431

30 Continental Influences 433

Lawrence F. Rhu

31 Christopher Marlowe 446

Emily C. Bartels

32 Ben Jonson 464

W. David Kay

33 Sidney, Cary, Wroth 482

Margaret Ferguson

34 Thomas Middleton 507

John Jowett

35 Beaumont and Fletcher 524

Lee Bliss

36 Collaboration 540

Philip C. McGuire

37 John Webster 553

Elli Abraham Shellist

38 John Ford 567

Mario DiGangi

Index 584

"This collection contains a wealth of information about the vast
and rich domain of Renaissance drama. Always lively, the essays
display state-of-the-art scholarship on the plays, the playwrights,
the theater, and the culture of Early Modern England. It will be an
indispensible scholarly resource for those interested in the
entirety of the Renaissance theatrical world, an arena which, as
this volume definitively confirms, encompassed a rich array of
playmakers and theatrical forms." Jean Howard, Columbia
University

"Serious first-time readers of Renaissance drama, as well as
veteran teachers looking for a credible source of current
information, will likely find this substantial volume of great
utility." Choice