Item Details | Research Catalog

The culture of playgoing in Shakespeare's England : a collaborative debate

Title

The culture of playgoing in Shakespeare's England : a collaborative debate / Anthony B. Dawson and Paul Yachnin.

Published by

Author

Filter by

Format

Status

Status	Format	Access	Call number	Item location
Status Request for on-site use Request scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	FormatBook/Text	AccessUse in library	Call numberPR3095 .D38 2001	Item locationOff-site

Additional authors

Description

Summary

How was the experience of watching a play influenced by practices beyond the walls of the playhouse, and what were the broader social and historical implications of the culture of playgoing? The book sets out to answer such questions. Interested first in what happened within the playhouse itself, the authors focus on the person of the actor, on stage props, visual pleasure and audience behaviour. At the same time, their discussion moves outward to consider a range of cultural assumptions and practices - such as eucharistic controversy, prostitution, social mobility, iconoclasm, Renaissance optics, the formation of national memory, and the dissemination of news. Since the two authors have very different perspectives on these issues, they have chosen a unique format: rather than submerging their opposition, they have highlighted it. Their attacks and counter-attacks, as they contest each other's views in paired chapters, result in a lively and illuminating debate.

Subject

Genre/Form

Contents

Introduction / Paul Yachnin and Anthony B. Dawson -- Performance and participation / Anthony Dawson -- The populuxe theatre ; Eye to eye opposed / Paul Yachnin -- The distracted globe / Anthony Dawson -- Magical properties / Paul Yachnin -- Props, pleasure, and idolatry ; The arithmetic of memory / Anthony Dawson -- The house of fame / Paul Yachnin -- Afterword / Paul Yachnin and Anthony Dawson.

Owning institution

Bibliography (note)