Product Description

Banquets proved an enduring setting in which to play out crucial and compelling sections of 99 surviving plays written between 1585 and 1642. Food, sex and revenge; food, drink and violent disorder; food, harmony and reconciliation; food, flattery and self-fashioning; arresting combinations which early modern banquets on stage contrived to present. In this work Chris Meads provides a full account of these banquet scenes on the English Renaissance stages, placing the play-texts within their contexts in terms of contemporary playhouse, social and culinary banqueting practices. The work examines the changes and developments in the use of banquets and banqueting on the stage, touching on the works of an overwhelming majority of playwrights, beginnning with those who made their mark in the Elizabethan period. It goes on to cover the notable contributions made by Heywood, by Middleton and Dekker, by Fletcher and his various collaborators, and by a final substantial group of playwrights such as Ford, Davenant, Shirley, Brome, plus numerous minor writers of the late-Jacobean and Caroline phase. This title will be of interest to students of literature, theatre studies, Renaissance studies, and to enthusiasts of the early modern period attracted by the sections on contemporary culinary practices, and early modern staging.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3084766 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
"Characterized by clear discussions and free of jargon, Meads' very readable book offers much information." --"Choice"

About the Author
Chris Meads is a Senior Lecturer in English and Literary Studies at University College Worcester