Materializing the East in Early Modern English Drama - (Arden Studies in Early Modern Drama) (Paperback)

About the Book

"Despite the popularity of plays about the East, the representation of the East in early modern drama has been either overlooked, marginalized as footnotes, or generalized into taken-for-granted stereotypes. Materializing the East in Early Modern English Drama focuses on the multi-layered, often conflicting and changing perceptions of the East and how dramatic works made use of their respective theatrical space to represent the concept of the East in drama. This volume re-examines the (mis)representation of the East on the early modern English outdoor and indoor stage and broadens our understanding of early modern theatrical productions beyond Shakespeare and the European continent. It traces the origin of conventional depictions of the East to university dramas and explores how they influenced the commercial stage. Chapters uncover how conflicting representations of the East were communicated on stage through the material aspects of stage architecture, costumes and performance effects. The collection emphasizes these material aspects of dramatic performances and showcases neglected plays, including George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar, Robert Greene's The Historie of Orlando Furioso and Joseph Simons' Leo the Armenian, and puts them in conversation with William Shakespeare's The Tempest, John Fletcher's The Island Princess and Philip Massinger and Fletcher's The Sea Voyage"--

Book Synopsis

Despite the popularity of plays about the East, the representation of the East in early modern drama has been either overlooked, marginalized as footnotes or generalized into stereotypes. Materializing the East in Early Modern English Drama focuses on the multi-layered, often conflicting and changing perceptions of the East and how dramatic works made use of their respective theatrical space to represent the concept of the East in drama.

This volume re-examines the (mis)representation of the East on the early modern English outdoor and indoor stage and broadens our understanding of early modern theatrical productions beyond Shakespeare and the European continent. It traces the origin of conventional depictions of the East to university dramas and explores how they influenced the commercial stage. Chapters uncover how conflicting representations of the East were communicated on stage through the material aspects of stage architecture, costumes and performance effects.

The collection emphasizes these material aspects of dramatic performances and showcases neglected plays, including George Salterne's Tomumbeius, Robert Greene's The Historie of Orlando Furioso and Joseph Simons' Leo the Armenian, and puts them in conversation with William Shakespeare's The Tempest and John Fletcher's The Island Princess.

Review Quotes

"What makes Materializing the East in Early Modern English Drama innovative, and illuminating is its attention to the materiality of the early modern English stage: material objects, stage conventions, performance venues, senses, and other affects. Focusing on non-canonical and often neglected plays, this volume reorients our understanding of the early modern stage beyond Shakespearean drama. The authors weave together an original and innovative study of early modern English drama, drawing on university plays and their influence on the conventional stage." --Reem Taha, University of California, Santa Barbra, English Studies

About the Author

Aisha Hussain is a PhD candidate at the University of Salford, UK.

Murat Ögütcü is Associate Professor and is currently working at Adiyaman University, Turkey.