Thomas Middleton in Context
Thomas Middleton in Context
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USDThe redefinition of the Thomas Middleton canon has led to an explosion of interest in this quintessential Jacobean. Middleton's best-known plays, such as Women Beware Women and The Changeling, are now staged, filmed and rewritten for modern audiences. But Middleton also wrote religious poetry, satires, historical allegory, prose and less familiar plays, collaborating frequently, even with Shakespeare. His works are rooted in his historical and cultural environment, from the Overbury scandal to the fall of the boys' companies. Here, experts in literature, theatre, history, law and religion analyze the complex contexts of Middleton's works, clarifying debates over his religious and political affiliations. Divided into sections presenting new interpretations of the world in which Middleton wrote - as a Londoner, citizen, dramatist and early modern man - and concluding with a section on performance history, the essays cover the full range of his works, from the frequently performed to the newest attributions.
- Helps readers understand the way Middleton's works participate in and reflect his world, by placing the playwright in personal, national, international and theatrical contexts
- Clarifies differences between Middleton and other playwrights of his time, such as Shakespeare and Jonson, providing the reader with important information on the dramatist, whose canon has been clarified and expanded in recent years
- Covers the whole of Middleton's canon, not only the familiar plays but also satires, poems, comedies, tragedies and tragicomedies, whether written alone or in collaboration
Reviews & endorsements
".. is a fine collection, its thirty-eight short, well-illustrated chapters giving a variety of new perspectives." -- Studies in English Literature
Product details
October 2015Paperback
9781107685642
418 pages
228 × 152 × 23 mm
0.57kg
20 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Middleton timeline Tripthi Pillai
- Introduction Suzanne Gossett
- Part I. Middleton and the London Context:
- 1. Thomas Middleton, chronologer of his time Mark Hutchings
- 2. Middleton's comedy and the geography of London Darryll Grantley
- 3. The Puritan Widow and the spatial arts of Middleton's urban drama Andrew Gordon
- 4. The populations of London Ian Munro
- 5. Domestic life in Jacobean London Catherine Richardson
- 6. Life and death in Middleton's London Elizabeth Furdell
- 7. The city's money: made, lost, stolen, lent, invested Aaron W. Kitch
- 8. Trade, work, and workers Natasha Korda
- 9. Supplying the city Ceri Sullivan
- 10. Celebrating the city Karen Newman
- 11. Violence and the city Jennifer Low
- 12. Middleton and the law Subha Mukherji
- Part II. The National and International Context:
- 13. The court Alastair Bellany
- 14. States and their pawns: political tensions from the Armada to the Thirty Years War Thomas Cogswell
- 15. Religious identities Ian Archer
- 16. The obsession with Spain Trudi Darby
- Part III. The Theatrical Context:
- 17. The social cartography of Middleton's theatres Andrew Gurr
- 18. The boys' plays and the boy players David Kathman
- 19. The adult companies and the dynamics of commerce Roslyn L. Knutson
- 20. The theatre and political control Janet Clare
- 21. Music on the Jacobean stage Linda Austern
- Part IV. The Context and Conditions of Authorship:
- 22. Middleton and 'modern use': case studies in the language of A Chaste Maid in Cheapside Sylvia Adamson with Hannah Kirby, Laurence Peacock and Elizabeth Pearl
- 23. Collaboration: the shadow of Shakespeare James Bednarz
- 24. Collaboration: sustained Heather Hirschfeld
- 25. Collaboration: Middleton and the determination of authorship Eric Rasmussen
- 26. Middleton and dramatic genre Suzanne Gossett
- 27. Writing outside the theatre Alison A. Chapman
- 28. Medieval remains in Middleton's writings Anke Bernau
- Part V. Social and Psychological Contexts:
- 29. Gender and sexuality Caroline Bicks
- 30. Women's life stages: maid, wife, widow (whore) Jennifer Panek
- 31. Playing, disguise, and identity Farah Karim-Cooper
- 32. Drugs, remedies, poisons, and the theatre Tanya Pollard
- 33. Middleton and the supernatural Michael Neill
- 34. 'Distracted measures': madness and theatricality in Middleton Carol Thomas Neely
- Part VI. Afterlives:
- 35. Invisible Middleton and the bibliographical context Sonia Massai
- 36. Afterlives: stages and beyond Diana E. Henderson
- 37. Middleton in the cinema Pascale Aebischer
- 38. Middleton's presence Simon Palfrey
- Works cited.
