Theatre and Humanism: English Drama in the Sixteenth Century

by Kent Cartwright

Overview

English drama at the beginning of the sixteenth century was allegorical, didactic and moralistic; but by the end of the century theater was censured as emotional and even immoral. How could such a change occur? Kent Cartwright suggests that some theories of early Renaissance theater need to be reconsidered. He proposes that humanist drama of the sixteenth century is theatrically exciting and socially significant, and he attempts to integrate popular and humanist values rather than setting them against each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521030540
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.75(d)
Lexile:	1460L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The humanism of acting: John Heywood's The Foure PP; 2. Wit and Science and the dramaturgy of learning; 3. Playing against type: Gammer Gurton's Needle; 4. Time, tyranny and suspense in political drama of the 1560s; 5. Humanism and the dramatizing of women; 6. The confusions of Gallathea: John Lyly as popular dramatist; 7. Bearing witness to Tamburlaine, Part 1; 8. Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: the commonwealth at the present moment; Afterword; Notes; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...Cartwright insightfully explores how Tudor playwrights developed over the century the rhythms of affective response in their viewers." Choice

"Kent Cartwright's book on English drama in the sixteenth century is a beautifully crafted and thoroughly documented work. As the first comprehensive study of the subject in several decades, it addresses the pre-Shakespearean drama that, once upon a time, was a 'must' for undergraduate and graduate students alike who specialized in English literature...it is essential reading...I am convinced that Cartwright's thesis holds weight." Shakespeare Bulletin

From the Publisher