John Ford's tragedy, first printed in 1633, is the first major English
play to take as its theme a subject still rarely handled: fulfilled
incest between brother and sister. It is one of the most studied and
performed of all plays of the period, and has been successfully adapted
for film and radio. The Revels Plays edition by Derek Roper has been the
standard scholarly text since it appeared in 1975. This new edition uses
the same authoritative text, but with notes designed for modern
undergraduate use. The substantial introduction has been completely
rewritten to take account of the studies and new approaches of the last
twenty years. It presents the play as an 'interrogative text', in which
subversive meanings are inscribed within an apparently orthodox
narrative; as a courageous treatment of forbidden love; and as an
astonishing work of Baroque art.