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The Dutch Courtesan is a riotous tragicomedy that explores the
delights and perils afforded by Jacobean London. While Freevill, an
educated young Englishman and the play's nominal hero, frolics in
the city's streets, taverns and brothels, Franceschina, his
cast-off mistress and the Dutch courtesan of the play's
title,laments his betrayal and plots revenge. Juxtaposing
Franceschina's vulnerable financial position against the
unappealing marital prospects available to gentry women, the play
undermines the language of romance, revealing it to be rooted in
the commerce and commodification. Marston's commentary on financial
insecurity and the hypocritical repudiation of foreignness makes
The Dutch Courtesan truly a document for our time.
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Histrio-mastix. 1610
George Peele, John Marston
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R495
Discovery Miles 4 950
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Histrio-mastix. 1610
George Peele, John Marston
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R838
Discovery Miles 8 380
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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As the Elizabethan era gave way to the reign of James I, England
grappled with corruption within the royal court and widespread
religious anxiety. Dramatists responded with morally complex plays
of dark wit and violent spectacle, exploring the nature of death,
the abuse of power and vigilante justice. In Kyd's The Spanish
Tragedy a father failed by the Spanish court seeks his own bloody
retribution for his son's murder. Shakespeare's 1603 version of
Hamlet creates an avenging Prince of unique psychological depth,
while Chettle's The Tragedy of Hoffman is a fascinating reworking
of Hamlet's themes, probably for a rival theatre company. In
Marston's Antonio's Revenge, thwarted love leads inexorably to gory
reprisals and in Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, malcontent
Vindice unleashes an escalating orgy of mayhem on a debauched Duke
for his bride's murder, in a ferocious satire reflecting the
mounting disillusionment of the age. Emma Smith's introduction
considers the political and religious climate behind the plays and
the dramatic conventions within them. This edition includes a
chronology, playwrights' biographies and suggestions for further
reading.
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