Revenge Drama in European Renaissance and Japanese Theatre is a
collection of essays that both explores the tradition of revenge drama
in Japan and compares that tradition with that in European Renaissance
drama. Why are the two great plays of each tradition, plays regarded as
defining their nations and eras, Kanadehon Chushingura and Hamlet, both
revenge plays? What do the revenge dramas of Europe and Japan tell us
about the periods that produced them and how have they been modernized
to speak to contemporary audiences? By interrogating the manifestation
of evil women, ghosts, satire, parody, and censorship, contributors such
as Leonard Pronko, J. Thomas Rimer, Carol Sorgenfrei, Laurence Kominz
explore these issues.