Contagion and the Shakespearean Stage, 1st ed. 2019 Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine Series
Coordonnateurs : Chalk Darryl, Floyd-Wilson Mary
This collection of essays considers what constituted contagion in the minds of early moderns in the absence of modern germ theory. In a wide range of essays focused on early modern drama and the culture of theater, contributors explore how ideas of contagion not only inform representations of the senses (such as smell and touch) and emotions (such as disgust, pity, and shame) but also shape how people understood belief, narrative, and political agency. Epidemic thinking was not limited to medical inquiry or the narrow study of a particular disease. Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson, Thomas Dekker and other early modern writers understood that someone might be infected or transformed by the presence of others, through various kinds of exchange, or if exposed to certain ideas, practices, or environmental conditions. The discourse and concept of contagion provides a lens for understanding early modern theatrical performance, dramatic plots, and theater-going itself.
First book to consider how the discourse and concept of contagion in the period can provide a lens for understanding early modern theatrical performance, dramatic plots, and theatre-going
In addition to engaging with the history of disease transmission, this collection considers how the language of contagion shapes dramatic narratives, contemporary understandings of theater-going, the history of emotion, and the perception of natural and preternatural phenomena
Provides new readings of plays by Shakespeare, Middleton, Jonson, Webster, and Rowley
Date de parution : 08-2020
Ouvrage de 292 p.
14.8x21 cm
Date de parution : 06-2019
Ouvrage de 292 p.
14.8x21 cm
Thèmes de Contagion and the Shakespearean Stage :
Mots-clés :
Disease; Early Modern; Emotion; Theatre; Passions; Audience; Shakespeare; Performing Shakespeare; Contagion; British and Irish Literature