Poison on the early modern English stage : plants, paints and potions / edited by Bill Angus and Lisa Hopkins, with Kibrina Davey.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Angus, Bill, editor.

Hopkins, Lisa, 1962- editor.

Davey, Kibrina, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English drama.

Poisons in literature.

Poisoning in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 299 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This volume explores some of the many instances of poisoning in early modern plays. It considers the practical, legal and epistemological issues aspects of poison plays and analyses the cultural work they perform, which includes questions related to race, religion, nationality, gender, and humans' relationship to the environment.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Notes on contributors

Introduction

Part I Sources of poison

1 ‘Balms and gums and heavy cheers’

2 Shakespeare and the snakehandlers

3 Shakespeare’s ‘baleful mistletoe’

4 Poisoning and poisonous Black bodies

Part II Poisoners

5 ‘Spit thy poison’

6 Poisonous intent, or how to get away with attempted murder on the early modern stage

7 ‘Let this deadly draught purge clean my Soul from sin’

8 Poxy doxies and poison damsels

Part III Victims

9 ‘Thou didst eat my lips’

10 ‘The leperous distilment’

11 Playing with poison

12 ‘No healthsome air breathes in’

13 ‘Death’s counterfeit’

Works cited

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on March 5, 2026).

ISBN:

9781526159939

1526159937

OCLC:

1400078754