Abstract:This article analyzes the agency of mobile organs and parts in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. While criticism on the individuated part in the play has primarily focused on Ferdinand’s blazonic renderings of the Duchess’s body, I argue that the Duchess reappropriates her brother’s language and develops what I refer to as a rhetoric of intercorporeal exchange. For the Duchess, the exchange of unruly parts — organs and spirits that leave one body to enter another — has desirable rather than disastrous effects, allowing her to merge metaphysically with Antonio. In its allusions to Neoplatonism and theories of hidden sympathies, the play, I argue, dramatizes a conception of humoral subjectivity that was inextricably linked to the exchange of itinerant and invasive parts.
{"title":"How to Do Things with Organs: Moving Parts in The Duchess of Malfi","authors":"Roya Biggie","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3299","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article analyzes the agency of mobile organs and parts in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. While criticism on the individuated part in the play has primarily focused on Ferdinand’s blazonic renderings of the Duchess’s body, I argue that the Duchess reappropriates her brother’s language and develops what I refer to as a rhetoric of intercorporeal exchange. For the Duchess, the exchange of unruly parts — organs and spirits that leave one body to enter another — has desirable rather than disastrous effects, allowing her to merge metaphysically with Antonio. In its allusions to Neoplatonism and theories of hidden sympathies, the play, I argue, dramatizes a conception of humoral subjectivity that was inextricably linked to the exchange of itinerant and invasive parts.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131304085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany is usually considered to be an Elizabethan revenge tragedy, with 1594 often suggested as a likely date of composition; some scholars have attributed the play to George Peele. Martin Wiggins has, however, recently contested the traditional date in British Drama 1533–1642: A Catalogue, giving 1630 as his own ‘best guess’. This note questions the premises behind Wiggins’s decision while putting forward new arguments in support of the traditional dating on dramaturgical grounds — arguments that perhaps lend weight to the idea that Peele had a hand in the play.
{"title":"The Dating and Attribution of Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany","authors":"Adrian Blamires","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3448","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany is usually considered to be an Elizabethan revenge tragedy, with 1594 often suggested as a likely date of composition; some scholars have attributed the play to George Peele. Martin Wiggins has, however, recently contested the traditional date in British Drama 1533–1642: A Catalogue, giving 1630 as his own ‘best guess’. This note questions the premises behind Wiggins’s decision while putting forward new arguments in support of the traditional dating on dramaturgical grounds — arguments that perhaps lend weight to the idea that Peele had a hand in the play.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125101028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:In The Witch of Edmonton, a diabolical dog escapes from the supernatural subplot to unleash mischief, madness, and murder in rural Middlesex. While the play’s emotional sophistication is easy to overlook because of the preposterousness of a costumed actor taking the stage as a talking dog, an analysis grounded in History of Emotions approaches and focusing on Dog reveals the extent to which this play, in dramatizing a society without charity, makes a convincing emotional plea centred on the emotions that mobilize, and are mobilized by, the uncanny character at its heart.
{"title":"Emotions in The Witch of Edmonton","authors":"K. Prince","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3607","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In The Witch of Edmonton, a diabolical dog escapes from the supernatural subplot to unleash mischief, madness, and murder in rural Middlesex. While the play’s emotional sophistication is easy to overlook because of the preposterousness of a costumed actor taking the stage as a talking dog, an analysis grounded in History of Emotions approaches and focusing on Dog reveals the extent to which this play, in dramatizing a society without charity, makes a convincing emotional plea centred on the emotions that mobilize, and are mobilized by, the uncanny character at its heart.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121798857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The witchcraft plot in The Witch of Edmonton is decidedly secondary. The historical context helps us understand it: while belief in witchcraft was near universal, uncertainty always hovered over individual cases. The social criticism articulated by the witch in the play, with its attack on the abuse of the poor (especially poor women) by their neighbours is central to the impact of the play. If those in power are held accountable, the responsibilities of the patriarchs who failed Frank Thorney — his father and master — are also in question. The witch calls into question all those given authority in society.
{"title":"The Witch of Edmonton: Witchcraft, Inversion, and Social Criticism","authors":"S. Amussen","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3608","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3608","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The witchcraft plot in The Witch of Edmonton is decidedly secondary. The historical context helps us understand it: while belief in witchcraft was near universal, uncertainty always hovered over individual cases. The social criticism articulated by the witch in the play, with its attack on the abuse of the poor (especially poor women) by their neighbours is central to the impact of the play. If those in power are held accountable, the responsibilities of the patriarchs who failed Frank Thorney — his father and master — are also in question. The witch calls into question all those given authority in society.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129348322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Using actor-network theory, this essay argues that the Norwich Grocers’ Play creates a dramatic network among the city of Norwich, the actors of the play, and the marginal audience members from Norwich and its surrounding countryside when read in light of the Norwich Corporation assembly minute of 1527 and the history of social unrest culminating in Kett’s Rebellion of 1549. The staging, costuming, and language of the play all function to ally the audience with the salvation history presented in the play and, in so doing, ensure the continued peace and prosperity of Norwich in the later 1560s despite challenges that could have led to unrest mirroring that experienced in the 1540s.
{"title":"Dramatic Networks: Marginalized Economics and Labour in the Norwich Grocers’ Play","authors":"Jeffery G. Stoyanoff","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3409","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3409","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Using actor-network theory, this essay argues that the Norwich Grocers’ Play creates a dramatic network among the city of Norwich, the actors of the play, and the marginal audience members from Norwich and its surrounding countryside when read in light of the Norwich Corporation assembly minute of 1527 and the history of social unrest culminating in Kett’s Rebellion of 1549. The staging, costuming, and language of the play all function to ally the audience with the salvation history presented in the play and, in so doing, ensure the continued peace and prosperity of Norwich in the later 1560s despite challenges that could have led to unrest mirroring that experienced in the 1540s.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115963509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This essay considers the key moment in Dekker, Ford, and Rowley’s The Witch of Edmonton when Elizabeth Sawyer’s cursing encourages a liaison with the devil taking the form of a black dog, a scenario taken from a real-life account of her trial and confession. By situating the episode in the larger context of contemporary discussions about swearing and blasphemy, through an examination of local histories, literature, parliamentary debates, and statutes, it offers a nuanced assessment of the play in light of what historians have called ‘the reformation of manners’ in early Stuart society.
{"title":"Blasphemy, Swearing, and Bad Behaviour in The Witch of Edmonton","authors":"D. Dean","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3605","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay considers the key moment in Dekker, Ford, and Rowley’s The Witch of Edmonton when Elizabeth Sawyer’s cursing encourages a liaison with the devil taking the form of a black dog, a scenario taken from a real-life account of her trial and confession. By situating the episode in the larger context of contemporary discussions about swearing and blasphemy, through an examination of local histories, literature, parliamentary debates, and statutes, it offers a nuanced assessment of the play in light of what historians have called ‘the reformation of manners’ in early Stuart society.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133672607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Changes in marital property and marriage negotiations, the economy, and personal relations in early modern England form the backdrop for key elements of The Witch of Edmonton. This essay draws on recent scholarship surrounding these changes to provide historical context for analyzing the play. It argues that the commercialization of economic relations and the emergence of trusts facilitated a shift away from customary arrangements (such as dower) towards more contractual ones (such as join-tures). Meanwhile, increased reliance on credit and legal instruments, such as bonds, produced record levels of litigation, contributing to legalistic thinking and cynicism about legal agreements.
{"title":"Women, Marriage, Property, and Law: Contextualizing The Witch of Edmonton","authors":"T. Stretton","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3611","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Changes in marital property and marriage negotiations, the economy, and personal relations in early modern England form the backdrop for key elements of The Witch of Edmonton. This essay draws on recent scholarship surrounding these changes to provide historical context for analyzing the play. It argues that the commercialization of economic relations and the emergence of trusts facilitated a shift away from customary arrangements (such as dower) towards more contractual ones (such as join-tures). Meanwhile, increased reliance on credit and legal instruments, such as bonds, produced record levels of litigation, contributing to legalistic thinking and cynicism about legal agreements.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133342192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Although Ovid dedicated his Metamorphoses to the subject of change, the vast majority of the corporeal alterations catalogued in this ancient Roman poem are singular, permanent transformations. In contrast, dramatists writing for the Elizabethan stage tended to represent fantastical, neo-Ovidian metamorphoses as temporary and reversible. With particular reference to the plays of John Lyly — and especially Love’s Metamorphosis — this article exposes conceptual and generic deviations between the static post-metamorphic norm found in Ovid’s Latin poetry and Elizabethan England’s theatrical depictions of bodily retro-metamorphoses.
{"title":"Ovidian Retro-Metamorphosis on the Elizabethan Stage","authors":"L. Reid","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3559","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Although Ovid dedicated his Metamorphoses to the subject of change, the vast majority of the corporeal alterations catalogued in this ancient Roman poem are singular, permanent transformations. In contrast, dramatists writing for the Elizabethan stage tended to represent fantastical, neo-Ovidian metamorphoses as temporary and reversible. With particular reference to the plays of John Lyly — and especially Love’s Metamorphosis — this article exposes conceptual and generic deviations between the static post-metamorphic norm found in Ovid’s Latin poetry and Elizabethan England’s theatrical depictions of bodily retro-metamorphoses.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127626997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:While recent studies offer new information about companies that used the Playhouse at Newington Butts from 1575 to 1594, mystery remains about the identity of the company that performed there in contravention of a restraint in May 1586. Using evidence related to the movements of companies active in 1586, particularly from the Records of Early English Drama (reed), this article offers an answer based on a process of elimination. After ruling out other options, the article explains why a fragment of Leicester’s Men likely performed at Newington for a short time before joining the earl on his diplomatic campaign in Europe.
{"title":"Who Performed at Newington Butts in May 1586?","authors":"Laurie Johnson","doi":"10.12745/ET.21.2.3581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12745/ET.21.2.3581","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:While recent studies offer new information about companies that used the Playhouse at Newington Butts from 1575 to 1594, mystery remains about the identity of the company that performed there in contravention of a restraint in May 1586. Using evidence related to the movements of companies active in 1586, particularly from the Records of Early English Drama (reed), this article offers an answer based on a process of elimination. After ruling out other options, the article explains why a fragment of Leicester’s Men likely performed at Newington for a short time before joining the earl on his diplomatic campaign in Europe.","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128304422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Shakespeare and the Admiral's Men: Reading Across Repertories on the London Stage, 1594–1600 by Tom Rutter (review)","authors":"D. Hamilton","doi":"10.1353/mlr.2018.0027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/mlr.2018.0027","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":422756,"journal":{"name":"Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123351090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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