The commercial theatre of the late sixteenth century is often credited with introducing its audiences to new modes of thought about the self, society and the nation, making them conscious that the self is performed, as an actor performs a role. Yet the earlier interlude drama, originally performed in households and other institutions of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, indicates that the late medieval period was fully aware of the theatricality of identity. This book argues that ideas of performance inform the concepts of aristocratic masculinity developed in the plays Nature,...
The commercial theatre of the late sixteenth century is often credited with introducing its audiences to new modes of thought about the self, society ...