Publisher's Synopsis
The period 1585û1649 was rich in innovative drama which challenged the boundaries between social, political and cultural activities of various kinds. In this book, Molly Smith examines ways in which texts by Renaissance authors reflect, question and influence their societyÆs ideological concerns. In the drama of Kyd, Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Webster, Middleton, Massinger and Ford, she identifies the simultaneously serious and playful appropriation of popular cultural practices, an appropriation which is expertly reversed by authorities in the political drama of Charles IÆs public trial and execution in 1649. - - This compellling interpretation of Renaissance drama will prove of value to students of literature and social history alike. -
