'Women Beware Women' is a major tragedy of the period, anatomising lust, hypocrisy and moral blindness. It is a play of people corrupted by greed for sex, wealth and position.
'Women Beware Women' is a major tragedy of the period, anatomising lust, hypocrisy and moral blindness. It is a play of people corrupted by greed for ...
The Witch (1615/16?), categorised by its author as 'a tragi-comedy', pits the intrigues of a group of Italian aristocrats against themalevolent practices of Hecate and her witches' coven, leaving theaudience with the impression that human malevolence is by far thefiercer and more effective. This edition sets the play into itsdramatic and literary contexts, ranging from Shakespeare's Macbeth andMiddleton's own later tragedies to Reginald Scot's sceptical Discoveryof Witchcraft and King James's virulent Daemonologie. It also arguesthat Middleton wrote it as a topical satire to capitalise on...
The Witch (1615/16?), categorised by its author as 'a tragi-comedy', pits the intrigues of a group of Italian aristocrats against themalevolent pra...
Walter Calverley was a noted English squire most remember today for his crime than his status; in 1605, Calverley murdered two of his three sons, and seriously wounded his wife. It was one of the most famous crimes of the century, and playwrights soon began dramatizing the story. One of the most famous versions was "A Yorkshire Tragedy." For years, the play was attributed to William Shakespeare; most scholars now agree that a more likely candidate is Jacobean playwright, Thomas Middleton
Walter Calverley was a noted English squire most remember today for his crime than his status; in 1605, Calverley murdered two of his three sons, and ...
Following Queen Elizabeth I's reign, the new court of King James was beset by political instability and moral corruption. This atmosphere provided fertile ground for the dramatists of the age, who explored the ways in which social decadence and the abuse of power breed resentment, leading inexorably to violent retribution.
In Cyril Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy, the debauched son of an Italian Duke attempts to rape the virtuous Gloriana--a veiled reference to Elizabeth I. John Webster's The White Devil depicts a sinister world of intrigue and murderous infidelity, while The...
Following Queen Elizabeth I's reign, the new court of King James was beset by political instability and moral corruption. This atmosphere provided ...
Women Beware Women is among the most powerful and adroitly plotted of Jacobean tragedies. Written by Thomas Middleton, a later contemporary of Shakespeare, the play deals with topics of enduring fascination such as sexual and financial greed, the sexual exploitation of women by a manipulative older woman, murderous revenge and the sexual predatoriness of a man in a position of power. The storyline is based on the most public of Medici scandals in late sixteenth-century Florence, with the Grand Duke Francesco seducing and then marrying a beautiful Venetian runaway, after arranging the murder...
Women Beware Women is among the most powerful and adroitly plotted of Jacobean tragedies. Written by Thomas Middleton, a later contemporary of Shakesp...
For many years Middleton's "A Game at Chess" was more notorious than read, considered rather a phenomenon of theatrical history than a pre-eminent piece of dramatic writing. "A Game at Chess" was a nine days' wonder, an exceptional play of King James' reign on account of its unprecedented representation of matters of state usually forbidden on the stage. The King's Men performed the play uninterruptedly between 5th and 14th August, 1624 at their Globe Theatre, attracting large audiences, before the Privy Council closed the theatre by the King's command. More recently, growing interest in the...
For many years Middleton's "A Game at Chess" was more notorious than read, considered rather a phenomenon of theatrical history than a pre-eminent pie...
This edition of "The Devil is an Ass" (1616) aims to provide an insight into Jonson's life and work, the theatrical qualities of the play, its political background and its textual history. In his introduction, Peter Happe looks at the special place of the play in Jonson's own life, his interest in London, the theatrical setting of the play and its sources and analogues. There are critical and explanatory commentaries and a glossarial index. The play is seen in its historical and political context, by linking it with late medieval and Elizabethan plays, as well as with the Jacobean stage. The...
This edition of "The Devil is an Ass" (1616) aims to provide an insight into Jonson's life and work, the theatrical qualities of the play, its politic...
The Changeling is a powerful psychological tragedy of the moral degeneration of a highborn Spanish girl through a crime prompted by obsessive love. Thomas Middleton was probably responsible for the tragic plot, and William Rowley for the comic subplot concerning the antics of a young rake who contrives to have himself committed to an insane asylum for love of the proprietor's handsome wife.
The Changeling is a powerful psychological tragedy of the moral degeneration of a highborn Spanish girl through a crime prompted by obsessiv...
