Thomas Middleton in context
By: edited by Suzanne Gossett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 386
ISBN-13: 9780521190541
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation
Description: "The redefinition of the Thomas Middleton canon has led to an explosion of interest in this quintessential Jacobean. Middleton's best known plays, such as Women Beware Women and The Changeling, are now staged, filmed and rewritten for modern audiences. But Middleton also wrote religious poetry, satires, historical allegory, prose and less familiar plays, collaborating frequently, even with Shakespeare. His works are rooted in his historical and cultural environment, from the Overbury scandal to the fall of the boys' companies. Here, experts in literature, theatre, history, law and religion analyze the complex contexts of Middleton's works, clarifying debates over his religious and political affiliations. Divided into sections presenting new interpretations of the world in which Middleton wrote - as a Londoner, citizen, dramatist and early modern man - and concluding with a section on performance history, the essays cover the full range of his works, from the frequently performed to the newest attributions"--

"Thomas Middleton - playwright, poet, religious and political polemicist, City Chronologer of London and celebrator of royal entries - is a man best understood as product and producer of his own environment and yet, as demonstrated by in the success of his works on the contemporary stage and screen, one who speaks directly to the modern world. The essays in this volume are intended to assist readers, whether students coming to Middleton for the first time or experienced scholars more familiar with Shakespeare, in placing Middleton's writings in and against the world with which they are so deeply intertwined. Here Middleton is examined in his multiple contexts, that is, in his private life; in the city of early modern London in which he was born, lived, and died; in the national and international events that resonated in that city; in the environment of the Jacobean theaters; in the conditions of authorship that led, for example, to frequent collaboration of various kinds; and finally in the context of current intellectual, psychological, and social frameworks"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Middleton timeline Tripthi Pillai; title: Introduction Suzanne Gossett; title: Part I. Middleton and the London Context: 1. Thomas Middleton, chronologer of his time Mark Hutchings; title: 2. Middleton's comedy and the geography of London Darryll Grantley; title: 3. The Puritan Widow and the spatial arts of Middleton's urban drama Andrew Gordon; title: 4. The populations of London Ian Munro; title: 5. Domestic life in Jacobean London Catherine Richardson; title: 6. Life and death in Middleton's London Elizabeth Furdell; title: 7. The city's money: made, lost, stolen, lent, invested Aaron W. Kitch; title: 8. Trade, work, and workers Natasha Korda; title: 9. Supplying the city Ceri Sullivan; title: 10. Celebrating the city Karen Newman; title: 11. Violence and the city Jennifer Low; title: 12. Middleton and the law Subha Mukherji; title: Part II. The National and International Context: 13. The court Alastair Bellany; title: 14. States and their pawns: political tensions from the Armada to the Thirty Years War Thomas Cogswell; title: 15. Religious identities Ian Archer; title: 16. The obsession with Spain Trudi Darby; title: Part III. The Theatrical Context: 17. The social cartography of Middleton's theatres Andrew Gurr; title: 18. The boys' plays and the boy players David Kathman; title: 19. The adult companies and the dynamics of commerce Roslyn L. Knutson; title: 20. The theatre and political control Janet Clare; title: 21. Music on the Jacobean stage Linda Austern; title: Part IV. The Context and Conditions of Authorship: 22. Middleton and 'modern use': case studies in the language of A Chaste Maid in Cheapside Sylvia Adamson with Hannah Kirby, Laurence Peacock and Elizabeth Pearl; title: 23. Collaboration: the shadow of Shakespeare James Bednarz; title: 24. Collaboration: sustained Heather Hirschfeld; title: 25. Collaboration: Middleton and the determination of authorship Eric Rasmussen; title: 26. Middleton and dramatic genre Suzanne Gossett; title: 27. Writing outside the theatre Alison A. Chapman; title: 28. Medieval remains in Middleton's writings Anke Bernau; title: Part V. Social and Psychological Contexts: 29. Gender and sexuality Caroline Bicks; title: 30. Women's life stages: maid, wife, widow (whore) Jennifer Panek; title: 31. Playing, disguise, and identity Farah Karim-Cooper; title: 32. Drugs, remedies, poisons, and the theatre Tanya Pollard; title: 33. Middleton and the supernatural Michael Neill; title: 34. 'Distracted measures': madness and theatricality in Middleton Carol Thomas Neely; title: Part VI. Afterlives: 35. Invisible Middleton and the bibliographical context Sonia Massai; title: 36. Afterlives: stages and beyond Diana E. Henderson; title: 37. Middleton in the cinema Pascale Aebischer; title: 38. Middleton's presence Simon Palfrey; title: Works cited.