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      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        February 1997

        A Game at Chess

        Thomas Middleton

        by T.H. Howard-Hill

        For many years Middleton's "A Game at Chess" was more notorious than read, considered rather a phenomenon of theatrical history than a pre-eminent piece of dramatic writing. "A Game at Chess" was a nine days' wonder, an exceptional play of King James' reign on account of its unprecedented representation of matters of state usually forbidden on the stage. The King's Men performed the play uninterruptedly between 5th and 14th August, 1624 at their Globe Theatre, attracting large audiences, before the Privy Council closed the theatre by the King's command. More recently, growing interest in the connections of economics and politics with authorship have promoted readings that locate the play so firmly within its historical context as propaganda that, again, its worthwhile literary and theatrical qualities are neglected. In writing "A Game at Chess", Middleton employed the devices of the neoclassical comedy of intrigue within the matrix of the traditional oral play. What might have seemed old-fashioned allegory was rejuvenated by his adoption of the fashionable game of chess as the fiction within which the play was set. The product of Middleton's experienced craftsmanship is at once deceptively simple and surprisingly complex. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        April 1993

        Doctor Faustus

        A- and B- Texts 1604

        by David Bevington, Eric Rasmussen

        This volume in the "Revel Plays" series, offers reading editions, with modern spelling, of the 1604 and 1616 editions of Marlowe's play, arguing that the two cannot be conflated into one. Included are sources and commentary, literary criticism, style and staging/performance assessments. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        September 1995

        Edward the Second

        Christopher Marlowe

        by Charles Forker

        The introduction to this edition contains an analysis of the first quarto (including new evidence of its original dating) and a reconsideration of the play's complex relation to the Shakespearean histories that preceded and followed it. Charles R. Forker offers a discussion of Marlowe's use of sources, and presents a new argument for the drama's five-act structure. He delves into the conflicting and controversial opinions concerning the genre and sexual politics of the play, and also includes a full record of the stage history. Forker has collated some 46 editions (including the important, rare and usually ignored editions of Broughton and Oxberry in 1818). The appendices provide substantive variants from the Broughton and Oxberry texts as well as extracts from the sources. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        March 1990

        The Roaring Girl

        Thomas Middleton & Thomas Dekker

        by Paul Mulholland

        An annotated edition of an important Jacobean comedy, which is currently receiving greater attention from critics and on stage because the leading character is based on a famous personality of the time, Moll Cutpurse. The history of Moll Cutpurse and its subsequent influence on the women's movement and feminist concerns make this book relevant to women's study courses and this is edition incorporates variant readings found in only one copy of the quarto. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        November 1999

        Plays on women

        Anon, Arden of Faver

        by David Bevington, Kathleen McLuskie

        Based on the original and authoritative Revels texts, Plays on women brings together four plays which dramatise the lives of women in Shakespeare's England The only available anthology focusing on women and including the four plays most often discussed. . . . ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        February 1980

        The Jew of Malta

        Christopher Marlowe

        by N. Bawcutt

        Thorough annotation and commentary. Emphasis on the political, historical and religious allusions in the play. Presented in a clear and lucid form. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        September 1990

        Sir Thomas More

        By Anthony Munday and others

        by Vittorio Gabrieli, Giorgio Melchiori

        The best edition of the play in print. Gives a radical re-examination of the manuscript, and relates step by step to the process by which the play acquired its final form. Accounts for every single word and mark found in the manuscript - reproduces rejected or alternative passages at the end of the text. Includes a detailed discussion of the authorship and date of the original text and so-called additions. Particularly important now as the play feeds into the present speculation concerning Shakespeare's Catholic roots. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        August 1996

        Poetaster

        Ben Jonson

        by Tom Cain

        Set in Ancient Rome, "Poetaster" offers one of the first and most subtle statements in English of the Augustan cultural ideal. Jonson contrasts Augustus' wise rule with an English polity dominated (like the stage) by malice, intrigue and envy. This text examines these different strands so skilfully interwoven by Jonson, and argues for a reassessment of "Poetaster" as one of the most ideologically interesting of all early modern plays. The accompanying explanatory notes guide the reader through the personal and political illusions which gave the play its immediate satirical impact. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        July 1999

        The Shoemaker's Holiday

        by Thomas Dekker

        by David Bevington, Robert Smallwood, Stanley Wells, Richard Dutton, Alison Findlay, Helen Ostovich

        Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday is one of the most popular of Elizabethan plays, entertaining, racy and vivid in its characterisation. Revealing a vital portrait of Elizabethan London and the interaction of social classes within the city, its social commentary is on the whole optimistic, though darker tones are discernible. The play has the whole optimistic, though darker tones are discernible. The play has had a lively history of performance on both the professional and amateur stage; the roles of Simon and Madgy Eyre in particular have proved worthy vehicles for the talents of such performers as Sir Donald Wolfit and Dame Edith Evans, and a notable production was directed by Orson Wells. The editors offer a study of the text; a historical and critical introduction, which includes a study of the play's relationship with contemporary life and drama and of its place in Dekker's work; a stage history' a detailed commentary and a reprint of source materials. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        March 1999

        The Maid's Tragedy

        Beaumont and Fletcher

        by David Bevington, T. W. Craik, Richard Dutton, Alison Findlay, Helen Ostovich

        Generally acknowledged to be the most powerful of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays and frequently performed by the best actors of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, The Maid's Tragedy (1610-11) disappeared from the stage (except in a much-altered and very successful Victorian adaptation) until recent years, when major companies have rediscovered its appeal. In this fully annotated edition, the editor has given careful attention to the sense of the lines, the stage action and the verse. Many new emendations of textual errors, as well as improvements in stage directions and lineation, are either introduced or proposed. The introduction explores Beaumont and Fletcher's use of the three known sources (two of them previously neglected) for incidents in the play, gives the fullest available account of its stage history, and provides a sympathetic interpretation of the play as a romantic tragedy. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        March 1999

        Campaspe and Sappho and Phao

        John Lyly

        by David Bevington, G.K. Hunter

        One of a series of play texts by Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists other than Shakespeare, this volume discusses the plays "Campaspe" and "Sappho and Phao" by John Lyly. The series aims to throw light on the plays and to offer views of the plays that have been neglected in the past. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        October 1997

        Endymion

        John Lyly

        by David Bevington

        Full and comprehensive commentary. Solid and scholarly introduction. A welcome edition to this renouned series . ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        March 1999

        Eastward Ho!

        Chapman, Jonson and Marston

        by David Bevington, R. W. Van Fossen, Richard Dutton, Alison Findlay, Helen Ostovich

        Scholarly and detailed annotations. Provides a thorough sense of the plays background and content. Full and comprehensive introduction. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        December 1999

        Volpone, or The Fox

        Ben Johnson

        by David Bevington, Brian Parker, Richard Dutton, Alison Findlay, Helen Ostovich

        This is the most thoroughly investigated edition of Volpone to date, based on a wider collation of the 1607 quarto and 1616 folio versions than was previously possible. It calls into question several accepted textual conclusions. The introduction sets Volpone in the context of Jonson's career at the time of writing and introduces new material on its relation to the Reynard beast epic and the commedia dell' arte. Ambiguities in the play are discussed with reference to two Renaissance perversions of the myth of the Golden Age. Particular attention is paid to the rhythmic effects of the play in performance, especially interweavings of the main plot and subplot. Fresh suggestions are made about the play's opening and its controversial conclusion in the light of experiments that have been made in performance since Volpone 's stage revival in 1921. The modernized text is accompanied by full commentary, notes and illustrations. The appendices include a discussion by John Cutts of the original music, passages translated from the original sources and analogues, and a full record of the play's modern stage history, its many adaptations, and its transformations into opera, musical comedy, film and television. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 1996

        The White Devil

        By John Webster

        by John Brown

        In this study of sexual and political intrigue, a fascinating but dangerous woman consents to the murder of her ineffectual husband. Her defence against the charge of adultery transforms the lurid tale of crime into high tragedy. A compellingly dangerous and fascinating play with a comprehensive set of notes and criticism. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        July 1998

        The Changeling

        Thomas Middleton & William Rowley

        by N. Bawcutt, David Bevington

        Competitive price and format. Compacted and up-to-date version of the earlier Revels Plays edition by the same editor, taking account of more recent critical works. A key Renaissance text. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        December 1995

        The Auto/biographical

        by Elizabeth Stanley

        This feminist literary study discusses postmodern ideas about the self, particularly about the way in which selves are constructed by biography and autobiography. The author particularly examines the manner in which women write about themselves. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 1996

        The Spanish Tragedy

        Thomas Kyd

        by David Bevington

        The "revenge" play became the most durable and commercially successful type of drama on the Elizabethan stage. This example by Thomas Kyd, who was one of the originators of the genre, brings to life the intrigues of the Spanish court, dramatically juxtaposing romantic passion with sudden violent death and clandestine politics. The ghost of Dan Andrea and his guide Revenge observe the dark and bloody action throughout, provoking questions about the nature of the human condition. ;

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