Revenge Tragedy and the Drama of Commemoration in Reforming England

Considering major works by Kyd, Shakespeare, Middleton and Webster among others, this book transforms current understanding of early modern revenge tragedy. Examing the genre in light of historical revisions to England's Reformations, and with appropriate regard to the social history of the dead, it shows revenge tragedy is not an anti-Catholic and Reformist genre, but one rooted in, and in dialogue with, traditional Catholic culture. Arguing its tragedies are bound to the age's funerary performances, it provides a new view of the contemporary theatre and especially its role in the religious upheavals of the period. Contents: Introduction; 'Outrage fits': revenge and the 'melodrama' of mourning in The Spanish Tragedy, Titus Andronicus and Hamlet; Funerary theatre: mourning, Antonio's Revenge and Paul's theatre; Melodrama and parody: remembering the dead in The Revenger's Tragedy, The Atheist's Tragedy, The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi; Conclusion; Select bibliography; Index.