Theatre and humanism : English drama in the sixteenth century / Kent Cartwright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cartwright, Kent, 1943- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English drama.

Theater--England--History--16th century.

Theater.

Renaissance--England.

Renaissance.

Humanists--England.

Humanists.

England--Intellectual life--16th century.

England.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 321 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Theatre & Humanism

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

English drama at the beginning of the sixteenth century was allegorical, didactic and moralistic; but by the end of the century theatre was censured as emotional and even immoral. How could such a change occur? Kent Cartwright suggests that some theories of early Renaissance theatre - particularly the theory that Elizabethan plays are best seen in the tradition of morality drama - need to be reconsidered. He proposes instead that humanist drama of the sixteenth century is theatrically exciting - rather than literary, elitist and dull as it has often been seen - and socially significant, and he attempts to integrate popular and humanist values rather than setting them against each other. Taking as examples the plays of Marlowe, Heywood, Lyly and Greene, as well as many by lesser-known dramatists, the book demonstrates the contribution of humanist drama to the theatrical vitality of the sixteenth century.

Contents:

The humanism of acting: John Heywood's The foure pp

Wit and science and the dramaturgy of learning

Playing against type: Gammer Gurton's needle

Time, tyranny, and suspense in political drama of the 1560s

Humanism and the dramatizing of women

The confusions of Gallathea: John Lyly as popular dramatist

Bearing witness to Tamburlaine, part 1

Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: the commonwealth of the present moment.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-312) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-11121-8

0-521-03054-4

1-280-15356-3

0-511-11722-1

0-511-14927-1

0-511-30956-2

0-511-48347-3

0-511-05143-3

OCLC:

475916161