Thomas Middleton is one of the major English Renaissance dramatists
alongside Marlowe, Shakespeare and Jonson. Middleton continues to
fascinate audiences and readers with his black humour, his wry and witty
treatment of sexuality, morality, and politics. He is a consummate
professional dramatist, experimenting with stagecraft in a manner that
combines the visual and the verbal to startling effect. This book brings
together these aspects of Middleton's craft through a detailed study of
his major plays. Middleton experimented with, and helped to shape, a
range of dramatic genres: city comedy, tragicomedy, romance, and revenge
tragedy. This new guide analyses in detail how the plays work in terms
of the early modern theatre and dramatic genres, as well as elucidating
the broader cultural issues shaping the plays. It provides an
introduction to critical readings of Middleton's works as well as modern
performances, demonstrating how modern critics, producers, dramatists
and film makers see Middleton's dark, playful and challenging plays as
speaking to our times.Key Features*Ideal student guide with its wide
ranging introduction to Middleton's city comedies, tragedies, and
collaborative plays and its readings of key texts such as The Roaring
Girl, Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Revenger's Tragedy, Women Beware Women,
and The Changeling*Uses the most recent edition available, the Oxford
Middleton (2007)*Provides background contexts guiding readers through
criticism of the plays as well as recent work on early modern theatre
and culture*Emphasis on Middleton's stagecraft and its assessment of
modern adaptations and film versions of his plays
