Twins in early modern English drama and Shakespeare / Daisy Murray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murray, Daisy, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1953 Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Routledge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 34.

Routledge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture ; 34

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twins in literature.

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama.

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

201 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Summary:

"This volume investigates the early modern understanding of twinship through new readings of plays, informed by discussions of twins appearing in such literature as anatomy tracts, midwifery manuals, monstrous birth broadsides, and chapbooks. The book contextualizes such dramatic representations of twinship, investigating contemporary discussions about twins in medical and popular literature and how such dialogues resonate with the twin characters appearing on the early modern stage. Garofalo demonstrates that, in this period, twin births were viewed as biologically aberrant and, because of this classification, authors frequently attempt to explain the phenomenon in ways which call into question the moral and constitutional standing of both the parents and the twins themselves. In line with current critical studies on pregnancy and the female body, discussions of twin births reveal a distrust of the mother and the processes surrounding twin conception; however, a corresponding suspicion of twins also emerges, which monstrous birth pamphlets exemplify. This book analyzes the representation of twins in early modern drama in light of this information, moving from tragedies through to comedies. This progression demonstrates how the dramatic potential inherent in the early modern understanding of twinship is capitalized on by playwrights, as negative ideas about twins can be seen transitioning into tragic and tragicomic depictions of twinship."--Series title page verso.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-198) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1953 Fund.

ISBN:

9781138679368

1138679364

OCLC:

972086937