Restoration theatre and crisis
By: Susan J. Owen.
Publisher: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Oxford [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 343
Subjects: Dryden, John, 1631-1700 -- Dramatic works.; Behn, Aphra, 1640-1689 -- Dramatic works.; English drama -- Restoration, 1660-1700 -- History and criticism.; Literature and history -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century.; Theater and society -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century.; Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century.; Great Britain -- History -- Restoration, 1660-1688.
Description: Restoration Theatre and Crisis is a seminal study of the drama of the Restoration, in particular that of the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis. This was a time of unprecedented political partisanship in the theatre. This book considers all the known plays of this period, including works by Dryden and Behn, in their historical context.

It examines the complex ways in which the drama both reflected and intervened in the political process, at a time when the crisis fractured an already fragile post-interregnum consensus, and modern party political methods first began to develop. Susan Owen discusses the ways in which Tory and Whig playwrights engaged in a dramatic dialogue, deliberately commenting on and reversing each other's themes and tropes.

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The book also explores the arena of sexual politics, examining the political significance of themes such as disharmony in the family, and the importance of rape as a dramatic signifier of monstrosity associated with rebellion by the Tories and tyranny and popery by the Whigs. Restoration Theatre and Crisis considers the use of sexuality as a political discourse, and ways in which ideas about libertinism and constructions of masculinity and femininity intersect with political concerns in the drama.

Thus the book bridges the gap between 'gender-blind' political accounts, and studies which have focused on gender themes in the drama in isolation from party politics.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-330) and index.