Product Description

The book considers the London theatrical culture which took shape in the 1570s and came to an end in 1642.

• Places emphasis on those plays that are readily available in modern editions and can sometimes to be seen in modern productions, including Shakespeare.
  
• Provides students with the historical, literary and theatrical contexts they need to make sense of Renaissance drama.
  
• Includes a series of short biographies of playwrights during this period.
  
• Features close analyses of more than 20 plays, each of which draws attention to what makes a particular play interesting and identifies relevant critical questions.
  
• Examines early modern drama in terms of its characteristic actions, such as cuckolding, flattering, swaggering, going mad, and rising from the dead.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249075 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
“A book surveying the field by introducing as many as twenty–one dramatists and generally considering the London theatrical culture between the 1570s and 1642. Among the key texts commented on are two of Shakespeare’s tragedies, namely Hamlet … and King Lear … .The book is of good use to readers needing a guide to the historical, literary and theatrical contexts in which English Renaissance drama took shape.” (Year′s Work in English Studies, 2008)

“The ideal companion for both students and teachers of Tudor and Stuart plays. I … was able to use it and recommend it to my students … .They loved it almost as much as I did. The book features … excellent, thought–provoking readings of the major plays … and a wonderfully quirky, fascinating, and useful section on recurring tropes and patterns … .The major writers are represented, and the book will work nicely with the Norton and the Blackwell anthologies … .I recommend this book with the highest praise.” (Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, Spring 2008)

"...Womack offers insightful critical comments on English Renaissance playwrights, some major plays, and a variety of contextual topics...Womack is an astute critic." (CHOICE)

"Remarkably comprehensive … a very fine introduction for the non–specialist." (Touchstone)

From the Back Cover
This guide provides students with the historical, literary and theatrical contexts they need to make sense of English Renaissance drama. The book considers the London theatrical culture which took shape in the 1570s and came to an end in 1642, emphasising plays that can be read in modern editions and seen in modern productions. Shakespeare’s plays appear as a vital but not dominating component of this repertoire.

The opening section reviews the historical conditions in which Renaissance plays were written and performed, tracing the opposing influences of patronage and the market, the Court and the City. The next section surveys the various languages out of which plays were made, showing how discourses such as history, satire or love were taken up and dramatized. Then a series of short biographies describes the lives of the best–known playwrights of the period. A fourth section provides analyses of over twenty specific scripts, showing what makes them interesting and what critical questions they provoke. Finally, the author links ideological concerns with dramatic practice by considering things that are typically enacted on the early modern stage, such as cuckolding, flattering, swaggering, going mad, and rising from the dead.

About the Author
Peter Womack is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of East Anglia. He is the co–author of English Drama: A Cultural History (Blackwell Publishing, 1996), and the author of Improvement and Romance: Constructing the Myth of the Highlands (1989) and Ben Jonson (Blackwell Publishing, 1986).