Discoveries on the early modern stage : contexts and conventions / Leslie Thomson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomson, Leslie (Drama professor), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English drama.

English drama--17th century--History and criticism.

Disguise in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 265 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

This study of the action of discovery as plot device, visual motif, and thematic trope on the early modern stage considers an important and popular performance convention in its cultural and religious contexts. Through close examination of a number of 'discoveries' taken from a wide range of early modern plays, Leslie Thomson traverses several related disciplines, including theatre history, literary analysis, art history, and the history of the religious practices that would have influenced Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Taking as its primary focus the performance of disguise-discoveries and discovery scenes, the analyses include considerations of how this particular device relates to genre, plot structure, language, imagery, themes, and the manipulation of playgoer expectations. With strong reference to the visual arts, and an appendix that addresses the problem of how and where discovery scenes were performed, Thomson offers an innovative perspective on the staging and meaning of early modern drama.

Contents:

Kinds and uses

Time and truth

Religious rites and secular spectacle

Revelation and belief

Private places and hidden spaces

Invention and artifice.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 25 Jul 2018).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-59972-9

1-108-59048-9

1-108-61213-X