Böcker av Richard Dutton

Shakespeare's Theatre: A History examines the theatre spaces used by William Shakespeare, and explores these spaces in relation to the social and political framework of the Elizabethan era. The text journeys from the performing spaces of the provincial inns, guild halls and houses of the gentry of the Bard's early career, to the purpose-built outdoor playhouses of London, including the Globe, the Theatre, and the Curtain, and the royal courts of Elizabeth and James I. The author also discusses the players for whom Shakespeare wrote, and the positioning--or dispositioning--of audience members in relation to the stage.Widely and deeply researched, this fascinating volume is the first to draw on the most recent archaeological work on the remains of the Rose and the Globe, as well as continuing publications from the Records of Early English Drama project. The book also explores the contentious view that the 'plot' of The Seven Deadly Sins (part II), provides unprecedented insight into the working practices of Shakespeare's company and includes a complete and modernized version of the 'plot'. Throughout, the author relates the practicalities of early modern playing to the evolving systems of aristocratic patronage and royal licensing within which they developedInsightful and engaging, Shakespeare's Theatre is ideal reading for undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars of literature and theatre studies.

A book about Jacobean civic pageants.

Shakespeare, Court Dramatist outlines the symbiotic relationship between Shakespeare and the court and shows how it affected his writing, forging plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet into the versions we know best today.

Ben Jonson's Volpone is the most widely taught and commonly performed English Renaissance play outside of Shakespeare. However, the dramatic circumstances of its writing are little known. In this 2008 book, Dutton describes the play's close links with the sensational Gunpowder Plot, an event in which Jonson was closely involved.

Richard Dutton focuses on the greatest landmark of Jonson's career, the 1616 folio collection of his works with which he crowned his growing reputation as a man of letters, collecting together the majority of his most enduring works - including Every Man in his Humour, Volpone, The Alchemist; the tragedies Sejanus and Catiline; and the major masques and poems.

The outlines of contemporary critical theory are now often taught as a standard feature of a degree in literary studies. This text aims to explore the theoretical issues and conflicts embodied in the essays selected and locates areas of disagreement between positions.

This collection offers detailed readings of all Ben Jonson's major plays - "Volpone", "Epicene", "The Alchemist" and "Bartholomew Fair" - and the poems. It also provides insights into the court masques and the later plays which have been rediscovered in the late-20th century.

William Shakespeare is the best-known writer in the English-speaking world. Richard Dutton tackles these and other issues which keep Shakespeare, the most influential literary life in literary history, at the centre of our cultural life today.