The book considers the London theatrical culture which took shape in the 1570s and came to an end in 1642. - Places emphasis on those plays that are readily available in modern editions and can sometimes to be seen in modern productions, including Shakespeare. - Provides students with the historical, literary and theatrical contexts they need to make sense of Renaissance drama. - Includes a series of short biographies of playwrights during this period. - Features close analyses of more than 20 plays, each of which draws attention to what makes a particular play interesting and identifies relevant critical questions. - Examines early modern drama in terms of its characteristic actions, such as cuckolding, flattering, swaggering, going mad, and rising from the dead.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Timeline
• The Set-Up
• The Moment
• Irreligious Drama
• Courtiers and Capitalists
• Actors and Writers
• The Stage
• Background Voices
• Allegory
• Ceremony
• Drama
• Festivity
• History
• Love
• Medicine
• Rhetoric
• Romance
• Satire
• The Writers
• Francis Beaumont
• Richard Brome
• George Chapman
• Thomas Dekker
• John Fletcher
• John Ford
• Robert Greene
• Thomas Heywood
• Ben Jonson
• Thomas Kyd
• Christopher Marlowe
• John Marston
• Philip Massinger
• Thomas Middleton
• Anthony Munday
• George Peele
• William Rowley
• William Shakespeare
• James Shirley
• Cyril Tourneur
• John Webster
• Key Plays
• Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
• Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great
• Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
• William Shakespeare, Richard II
• Ben Jonson, Every Man In His Humour
• Thomas Dekker, The Shoemakers' Holiday
• William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• John Marston, The Dutch Courtesan
• William Shakespeare, King Lear
• The Revenger's Tragedy
• Ben Jonson, Volpone, or, The Fox
• Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle
• Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy
• Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl
• William Shakespeare, The Tempest
• Thomas Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
• Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair
• John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi
• Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling
• Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor
• Thomas Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West
• John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
• Richard Brome, A Jovial Crew
• Actions That A Man Might Play
• Attending
• Being a Woman
• Conjuring
• Cuckolding
• Dressing Up
• Feigning
• Flattering
• Going Mad
• Inheriting
• Plotting
• Rising from the Dead
• Seducing
• Swaggering
• Bibliography