Four Revenge Tragedies The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore and The White Devil
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Janet Clare is Professor of Renaissance Literature and Director of the Andrew Marvell Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Hull, UK.
Play texts edited by: Andrew Gurr (The Spanish Tragedy), Brian Gibbons (The Revenger’s Tragedy), Martin Wiggins ('Tis Pity She’s a Whore), Christina Luckyj (The White Devil).
Francis Bacon described revenge as a ‘kind of wild justice’. Then as now, early modern playwrights and their theatre-going public were fascinated by the anarchic energies that a desire for retribution unleashes. Rather than rehearsing familiar conventions, each of these plays presents a unique social and cultural milieu where dark fantasies of revenge are variously played out.
In Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy a grieving father seeks public justice for the murder of his son by envious princelings. When his attempts are thwarted he turns a court spectacle of murder into the ‘real’ thing. Blackly comic in its tone and style, The Revenger’s Tragedy (anon.) presents vengeance as mimetic art, witty and cruel. Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore represents an innovative re-working of the genre as a brother’s love for his sister leads to his spectacular revenge on his rival, her husband, in a society in which brutal retaliation for perceived wrong is the norm. In Webster’s The White Devil crimes of passion ignite revenge in the courts of the Italian city states.
This student edition contains fully annotated, modernized texts of each play together with an introduction discussing the dramatic and poetic style of each play, focusing on its action and play of ideas.
Introduction
Chronology
Further Reading
The Spanish Tragedy
The Revenger’s Tragedy
'Tis Pity She’s A Whore
The White Devil
Notes on the Texts
New Mermaids is a series of classic plays from the 16th to the 20th century which are presented in modernised English with on the page notes.
Teachers present editions of these plays that are perfect for students and encourage creative engagement with the text. Introductions include the latest research and critical interpretations to situate each play within contemporary culture. Editors explore the play’s language and plot through gender, sexuality, race, religion, identity, material culture and performance.
New Mermaids are printed in a clear, easy-to-use format, with notes below the text. New editions speak to students, theatre goers and actors who want to engage with classic plays as they are taught and performed across the world today.
General Editors
Subha Mukherji, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture, University of Cambridge, UK.
Iman Sheeha, Senior Lecturer in English, Brunel University, UK.
Editorial Board
Brandi Adams, Assistant Professor, English Department, Arizona State University, USA
Francis X. Connor, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of English, Wichita State University, USA
Beth Rebecca Cortese, Assistant Professor, University of Iceland, Iceland
Ambereen Dadabhoy, Associate Professor of Literature, Harvey Mudd College, USA
Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern English Literature and Culture, University of Oxford, UK
Tracy C. Davis, Barber Professor of Performing Arts, Northwestern University, USA
Brett Greatley-Hirsch, Professor of Renaissance Literature and Textual Studies, University of Leeds, UK
Hetta Howes, Senior Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature, City University, UK
Hassana Moosa is a Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Cape Town, South Africa
Eoin Price, Lecturer in English Literature, 1500-1650, University of Edinburgh, UK
Eleanor Rycroft, Senior Lecturer, Department of Theatre, University of Bristol, UK
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Janet Clare is Professor of Renaissance Literature and Director of the Andrew Marvell Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Hull, UK.
Play texts edited by: Andrew Gurr (The Spanish Tragedy), Brian Gibbons (The Revenger’s Tragedy), Martin Wiggins ('Tis Pity She’s a Whore), Christina Luckyj (The White Devil).