Theatre and humanism : English drama in the sixteenth century

English drama at the beginning of the sixteenth century was allegorical, didactic and moralistic; but by the end of the century theatre was censured as emotional and even immoral. How could such a change occur? Kent Cartwright suggests that some theories of early Renaissance theatre - particularly the theory that Elizabethan plays are best seen in the tradition of morality drama - need to be reconsidered. He proposes instead that humanist drama of the sixteenth century is theatrically exciting - rather than literary, elitist and dull as it has often been seen - and socially significant, and he attempts to integrate popular and humanist values rather than setting them against each other. Taking as examples the plays of Marlowe, Heywood, Lyly and Greene, as well as many by lesser-known dramatists, the book demonstrates the contribution of humanist drama to the theatrical vitality of the sixteenth century.

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Cartwright (Univ. of Maryland, College Park) tackles one of the big questions about 16th-century English drama: Where did the brilliant human portraits of the second half of the century come from? The author argues that scholars have overstated the debt to popular and folk drama, in so doing neglecting the influence of humanist classicizing. The point bears making, though Cartwright does harp too often on one string: the conflict in humanist drama between precept and experience. The author's real interest, and the book's real strength, lies elsewhere: Cartwright insightfully explores how Tudor playwrights developed over the century the rhythms of affective response in their viewers. Members of the audience craved ever more of the dramatic stimulus that playwrights learned to provide; viewers were forever satisfied, yet forever in need of more. Particularly useful are discussions of Gammer Gurton's Needle and Gorboduc from the middle of the century. The volume concludes with chapters on Lyly's Gallathea, Marlowe's Tamburlaine, and Greene's Friar Bacon, which demonstrate the force of Cartwright's affective approach. Recommended for graduate collections and for large undergraduate libraries. E. D. Hill; Mount Holyoke College

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The humanism of acting: John Heywood's The Foure PP

2 Wit and Science and the dramaturgy of learning

3 Playing against type: Gammer Gurton's Needle

4 Time, tyranny and suspense in political drama of the 1560s

5 Humanism and the dramatizing of women

6 The confusions of Gallathea: John Lyly as popular dramatist

7 Bearing witness to Tamburlaine, Part 1

8 Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: the commonwealth at the present moment

Afterword

Notes

Index

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