Introduction to English Renaissance comedy

by Alexander Leggatt

Introduction to English Renaissance comedy provides a comprehensive introduction to Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline comedy, covering both public and private theatres, emphasising the eclectic, experimental nature of this its departures from the mainstream New Comedy tradition, its searching, witty analysis of social and personal relations in court, city and country.

This book makes a close analysis of some of the richest comedies of the period, making unexpected connections between Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, Lyly's Endymion, Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, Marston's The Malcontent, Middleton's Michaelmas Term, Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, Shirley's The Lady of Pleasure and Brome's A Jovial Crew. Through these plays the reader is given a comprehensive picture of English comedy in one of its most creative periods.

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 1999

Reviews

[Heather Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and useful chapter on Edynmoin