The Drama of John Marston


Book Description

This is an invaluable collection of critical essays on the work of dramatist John Marston.




John Marston's Drama


Book Description

A work of historical criticism that offers new interpretations of the nine plays attributed solely to John Marston. Explores his use of literary, historical, and intellectual sources and focuses on recurrent major images and themes in the plays.




The Selected Plays of John Marston


Book Description

This edition brings five of Marston's most interesting plays together in a readable and helpful form. They are collected with modern spelling, full commentaries, textual notes and introductions, in texts newly edited from the original quartos. A survey of criticism of Marston is included. The edition of Sophonisba (a play highly praised by T. S. Eliot) is the first modernised text to appear in one hundred years. Another textual innovation is the relegation to an appendix of Webster's obtrusive additions to The Malcontent. Marston's plays have enjoyed popular revivals in English theatres over the last decade, and the authors' commentary is designed to alert readers to theatrical effects. The playwright's language is elucidated here far more fully than in any other collection.




John Marston's Plays


Book Description




The Malcontent


Book Description

A student edition of Marston's classic play The Malcontent is a tragicomedy deriving from the tradition of the revenge play. The verbal ingenuity of Malevole, the "malcontent", and the extravagance of the drama, push the relentlessness of intrigue to its logical conclusion, exposing the basically comic aspect of the genre. The conventional function of the climactic masque is inverted, leading to the essential resolution of the comedy. This edition comes with full commentary and notes, together with photos of Jonathan Miller's acclaimed 1973 production at the Nottingham Playhouse.




The Malcontent


Book Description

A student edition of Marston's classic play The Malcontent is a tragicomedy deriving from the tradition of the revenge play. The verbal ingenuity of Malevole, the "malcontent", and the extravagance of the drama, push the relentlessness of intrigue to its logical conclusion, exposing the basically comic aspect of the genre. The conventional function of the climactic masque is inverted, leading to the essential resolution of the comedy. This edition comes with full commentary and notes, together with photos of Jonathan Miller's acclaimed 1973 production at the Nottingham Playhouse.




John Marston's The Wonder of Women or The Tragedy of Sophonisba


Book Description

Originally published in 1979, this volume includes the full text of James Marston's The Wonder of Women, alongside critical and textual notes. Previously to this volume, Sophonisba had appeared in print five times, once independently and four times in collections of Marston's plays; the first edition is a quarto printed in 1606 by John Windet.




Music in English Children's Drama of the Later Renaissance


Book Description

Originally published in 1992, Music in English Children’s Drama of the Later Renaissance is the first book-length study to examine the Elizabethan and Jacobean children’s drama, not only from a musicological perspective, but also drawing on the histories of literature, culture, and the theater. It gives the children’s companies new historical significance, showing that they were an integral and ultimately influential part of the London theatrical world. These companies originated important features of later drama, such as music before and between acts, and the exploitation of different timbres for specific effects. Those interested in music history, English literature, theater history, and cultural history will find this a comprehensive and fascinating study. Of special note are the appendices, which offer a unique and important reference source by providing the only definitive list of the plays and songs used by the children.




Renaissance Drama


Book Description

This pioneering collection of non-Shakespearean Renaissance drama has now been updated to include more early material, plus Mary Sidney’s The Tragedy of Antony, John Marston’s The Malcontent and Ben Jonson’s Masque of Queens. Second edition of this pioneering collection of works of non-Shakespearean Renaissance drama. Covers the full sweep of dramatic performances, including State progresses and Court masques. Contains material useful for courses on women playwrights or women in Renaissance drama, including Middleton’s Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi and Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling. Includes plays and pageants not anthologised elsewhere, such as the coronation entries of Elizabeth I and Queen Anne, and Thomas Heywood’s ‘A Woman Killed with Kindness’. For the second edition more early material has been added, such as Noah and The Second Shepherd’s Play. The anthology now also includes Mary Sidney’s The Tragedy of Antony, John Marston’s The Malcontent and Ben Jonson’s The Masque of Queens.