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Author Burnett, Mark Thornton.

Title Constructing 'monsters' in Shakespearean drama and early modern culture / Mark Thornton Burnett
Published Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave, 2002

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  820.33 Z41 B9647  AVAILABLE
Description viii, 262 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Series Early modern literature in history
Early modern literature in history (Palgrave (Firm))
Contents 1. Mapping 'Monsters' -- 2. 'The strangest men that ever Nature made': Manufacturing 'Monsters' in Tamburlaine the Great -- 3. 'Monsters' and 'Molas': Body Politics in Richard III -- 4. 'As it is credibly thought': Conceiving 'Monsters' In Othello -- 5. 'Were I in England now': Localizing 'Monsters' in The Tempest -- 6. 'If there be never a servant-monster': Translating 'Monsters' in Bartholomew Fair
Summary "Drawing upon popular practices, vernacular literature and neglected archival deposits, Constructing 'Monsters' in Shakespearean Drama and Early Modern Culture argues for the crucial place of the 'monster' in the early modern imagination. At once intangible and corporeal, classifiable and incomprehensible, the 'monster' answered to conflicting anxieites about social identity while also shaping the period's new philosophies. The metaphorical significance of 'monstrous' forms extends across a range of early modern exhibition spaces - fairground displays, 'cabinets of curiosity' and court entertainments. But the 'monster', Burnett contends, finds its most intriguing manifestation in the ideological investments, and performative activities, of contemporary theatre. The study's new readings of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson establish forceful links between seemingly divergent locations, thereby restoring to the theatre and its productions a multi-layered cultural resonance
This volume makes a powerful case for the drama's contribution to debates about the 'extraordinary body'."--BOOK JACKET
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (page219) and index
Subject Jonson, Ben, 1573?-1637. Bartholomew Fair
Marlowe, Christopher, 1564-1593. Tamburlaine the Great.
Timur, 1336-1405 -- In literature.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Monsters.
Jonson, Ben, 1573?-1637. Bartholomew fair
English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 -- History and criticism.
Human body in literature.
Monsters in literature.
Villains in literature.
LC no. 2002072630
ISBN 0333914341