A New History of Early English DramaJohn D. Cox, David Scott Kastan Columbia University Press, 1997 - 565 pages For many years the study of pre-seventeenth-century English drama was shaped largely by an understanding that everything written revolved around the individual author, either as part of the tradition that prepared the way for Shakespeare or as part of his legacy. Now twenty-five original essays by leading theorists and historians chart a paradigmatic shift within the field. In contrast to the traditional emphasis on individual authors, the contributors here explore the place of the stage within the larger society, as well as issues of performance and physical space. The essays are organized into three sections: "Early English Drama and Physical Space" examines the settings in which plays were acted; "Early English Drama and Social Space" juxtaposes the theater with such contemporary subcultures as the church, the city, and the court. Finally, "Early English Drama and Conditions of Performance and Publication" explores a wide range of material conditions and contexts, from props to printers. A major summary of contemporary scholarship and a storehouse of new theoretical and historical information, A New History of Early English Drama skillfully illustrates the complex influence of physical and social elements woven into the texts, and provides an innovative approach to literary studies and cultural history. |
Contents
Margreta de Grazia | 7 |
The English Church as Theatrical Space | 25 |
A Commonty a Christmas gambold or | 39 |
John R Elliott Jr | 68 |
Streets and Markets | 77 |
Theater and Religious Culture | 141 |
The Theater and Domestic Culture | 179 |
Entertainments at Court | 195 |
Personnel and Professionalization | 337 |
Authorship and Collaboration | 357 |
The Publication of Playbooks | 383 |
Patronage and the Economics of Theater | 423 |
The Revision of Scripts | 441 |
The Repertory | 461 |
Plays in Manuscript | 481 |
499 | |
The Theater and Literary Culture | 213 |
Theater and Popular Culture | 231 |
Touring | 251 |
Censorship | 287 |
321 | 531 |
CONTRIBUTORS | 545 |
561 | |
Common terms and phrases
acting actors Admiral's Admiral's Men appear audience authorship Ben Jonson blackletter boys Burbage Bussy D'Ambois Cambridge University Press century Chamberlain's Chambers Christ church civic collaboration Comedy copy Corpus Christi play costumes court culture Diary dramatists Early English Drama economic edition Edward Alleyn Elizabethan entertainments entry evidence example extant Faustus Folio fowle papers Greg Greg's hall Hamlet Henry Henslowe Henslowe's household Inigo Jones Jacobean James Burbage John Jonson King King's King's Men Kyd's Lear Library license literary London Lord Lord Chamberlain's Men manuscript Marlowe masque Master Medieval Oxford pageant patronage patrons Pembroke's Men performance period playbooks players playhouse playtexts playwrights popular printed plays printer promptbook published quarto queen records Renaissance repertory Revels revision Richard roles royal scene scripts September 1594 Shakespeare social space Spanish Tragedy stage Stationers suggests Tamburlaine textual theater theatrical Thomas tion William Worcester's Men writing York