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Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy
The description for this book, Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy, 1587-1642, will be forthcoming.
- GenresNonfiction
Hardcover
First published May 1, 1958
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About the author
Fredson Bowers
220 books5 followersFredson Thayer Bowers was an American bibliographer and scholar of textual editing.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 30, 2012
This is one of those texts you can't get away from.
And in a lot of ways, that's a good thing. The author's knowledge of period plays is extensive, much of his commentary is insightful, and his introductory chapters provide an excellent background of the cultural and literary roots of Early Modern Revenge drama.
However, the book as a whole suffers from its extended metaphor -- the development of revenge drama progresses in the human life cycle -- it is born (although this work does not posit the instant, unprecedented creation of English drama by the pen of Kyd and/or Marlowe, which even more modern criticism is prone to), mature, decays and dies in the 1642 closure of the theatres. The earlier part is the least affected by this, and Bowers does a remarkable job of showing the growth of revenge dramas out of earlier plays, and in tracing the legacy of Kyd (even if he seems a little too certain of the contents of the speculative Ur-Hamlet).
The later part of the book suffers from the authors' own bias -- his preferred term for later plays is decadent, and he gives but short shrift to later (and, admittedly, lesser) Carolinian playwrights. He often mistakes concessions to a public taste that has changed markedly from the 1580s and 90s as a critical error of playwrights, as if the playwrights were free to dedicate them to a drama free from ticket sales.
But in the end, the book achieves effortlessly the two goals of intelligent criticism: it both inspires the reader to return to the source material with a new eye and sparks thoughtful conversations for its readers.
And in a lot of ways, that's a good thing. The author's knowledge of period plays is extensive, much of his commentary is insightful, and his introductory chapters provide an excellent background of the cultural and literary roots of Early Modern Revenge drama.
However, the book as a whole suffers from its extended metaphor -- the development of revenge drama progresses in the human life cycle -- it is born (although this work does not posit the instant, unprecedented creation of English drama by the pen of Kyd and/or Marlowe, which even more modern criticism is prone to), mature, decays and dies in the 1642 closure of the theatres. The earlier part is the least affected by this, and Bowers does a remarkable job of showing the growth of revenge dramas out of earlier plays, and in tracing the legacy of Kyd (even if he seems a little too certain of the contents of the speculative Ur-Hamlet).
The later part of the book suffers from the authors' own bias -- his preferred term for later plays is decadent, and he gives but short shrift to later (and, admittedly, lesser) Carolinian playwrights. He often mistakes concessions to a public taste that has changed markedly from the 1580s and 90s as a critical error of playwrights, as if the playwrights were free to dedicate them to a drama free from ticket sales.
But in the end, the book achieves effortlessly the two goals of intelligent criticism: it both inspires the reader to return to the source material with a new eye and sparks thoughtful conversations for its readers.
April 3, 2010
An energetic writer. Shakespeare broke the mould of revenge tragedy with Hamlet....Well, Bowers shows in voluminous detail just what that mould consisted of.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews