The Will and Testament in English Renaissance Drama: Paper Props, Property, and Ulpian Fulwell’s Like Will to Like

Abstract

ills helped to define the political and religious climate of early modern England. The Acts of Succession (1533–43/44), which eventually w gave Henry VIII power “to assign the crown by letters patent or his last will,” circumvented the traditional rules concerning the transference of royal power and helped fuel the dynastic crises that followed Edward VI’s death. Defining the relation between God’s salvific will and human will also helped mark intellectual and doctrinal boundaries in early modern Europe. As Risto Saarinen notes, “Freedomof choice became one of the great discussion topics of theReformation.” The few studies that have examined the important role that forms of will making and willpower play in sixteenthand seventeenth-century literature do, however, primarily focus on Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Despite “being so rich in Will,” we