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Chapter 5 - Morbid Symptoms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2023

Heidi Craig
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
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Summary

Explores the relationship between theatre history and dramatic criticism, exploring how the two were shaped by historiography’s embrace of English theatre and drama during the mid-seventeenth century. Responds to Richard Schoch’s argument that theatre history emerged as a field of study only with the “the weakening of the humanist paradigm that restricted history to public affairs.” Argues that historiography did not only lower its standards to include theatre; rather, the cultural and political upheaval of the 1640s and 1650s elevated theatre to the level of public affairs. Moreover, once the formerly reliable institutions of theatre and drama were threatened with oblivion, commentators were motivated to create and preserve records of the fleeting dramatic past. Describes how dramatic paratexts not only changed and became more prevalent after the closure of the theatres in 1642, but also became a medium for dramatic criticism, with prefaces assuming the role previously played by live conversation and verbal exchanges in the theatres. Attests to the lasting impact the closure of the theatres in 1642 had, and continues to have, on the reception and construction of English theatre history.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Morbid Symptoms
  • Heidi Craig, Texas A&M University
  • Book: Theatre Closure and the Paradoxical Rise of English Renaissance Drama in the Civil Wars
  • Online publication: 03 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009224017.006
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  • Morbid Symptoms
  • Heidi Craig, Texas A&M University
  • Book: Theatre Closure and the Paradoxical Rise of English Renaissance Drama in the Civil Wars
  • Online publication: 03 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009224017.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Morbid Symptoms
  • Heidi Craig, Texas A&M University
  • Book: Theatre Closure and the Paradoxical Rise of English Renaissance Drama in the Civil Wars
  • Online publication: 03 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009224017.006
Available formats
×