A major revision of this classic revenge tragedy. The comprehensive introduction covers recent developments in criticism and key theatre productions, as well as relating the play to other early modern tragedies. The edition gives students and teachers a reliable, annotated text and a stimulating overview of the play's context, critical perspectives and an exploration of its stage history. An invaluable resource for study and performance.

The first decade of the Jacobean age witnessed a sudden profusion of comedies satirizing city life; among these were comedies by Ben Jonson, John Marston and Thomas Middleton, as well as the bulk of the repertory of the newly-established children s companies at Blackfriars and Paul s. The playwrights self-consciously forged a new genre which attracted London audiences with its images of folly and vice in Court and City, and hack-writing dramatists were prompt to cash in on a new theatrical fashion.

This study, first published in 1980, examines ways in which the Jacobean city comedy...