Middleton and Time - by Eric Dunnum (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A great deal has been written about early modern temporality, both by scholars of Renaissance drama and historians of chronometry. Much of the former has focused, unsurprisingly, on Shakespeare. This book seeks to broaden the discussion of temporality and the early modern stage by focusing on "our other Shakespeare" - Thomas Middleton, a writer preoccupied with issues of time, chronometry, and temporality. In this first book length study of Middleton's portrayal of time, his representations of clocks and calendars are explored as a way of understanding early modern time consciousness. Middleton, more than any other playwright of his era, was aware of the alienating qualities of these chronometric devices and showed how the subject's experience of time was influenced by them, while also demonstrating how choices in chronometry were influenced by gender, class and religious identity. As a result, his texts explore the complex intersections between sexuality, economic systems, and temporality in the early modern world.

From the Back Cover

A great deal has been written about early modern temporality, both by scholars of Renaissance drama and historians of chronometry. Much of the former has focused, unsurprisingly, on Shakespeare. This book seeks to broaden the discussion of temporality and the early modern stage by focusing on "our other Shakespeare" - Thomas Middleton, a writer preoccupied with issues of time, chronometry, and temporality. In this first book length study of Middleton's portrayal of time, his representations of clocks and calendars are explored as a way of understanding early modern time consciousness. Middleton, more than any other playwright of his era, was aware of the alienating qualities of these chronometric devices and showed how the subject's experience of time was influenced by them, while also demonstrating how choices in chronometry were influenced by gender, class and religious identity. As a result, his texts explore the complex intersections between sexuality, economic systems, and temporality in the early modern world.

Eric Dunnum is Associate Professor and Victor Small Endowed Chair of English at Campbell University, USA. His previous monograph, Unruly Audiences and the Theater of Control in Early Modern London (2020), explores how playhouse riots influenced early modern dramaturgy. He has also published essays on theater history, disability studies, and trauma theory.

Review Quotes

"Eric Dunnum has written an excellent book titled Middleton and Time: Clocks, Calendars and Temporality. ... Dunnum's Middleton and Time: Clocks, Calendars and Temporality is a worthwhile book for understanding the emergence of an objective, alienatory temporality during the early modern period and for analyzing the alienatory nature of technologies of our time, such as artificial intelligence." (Javier Poveda Figueroa, Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 57 (3), 2026)

About the Author

Eric Dunnum is Associate Professor and Victor Small Endowed Chair of English at Campbell University, USA. His previous monograph, Unruly Audiences and the Theater of Control in Early Modern London (2020), explores how playhouse riots influenced early modern dramaturgy. He has also published essays on theater history, disability studies, and trauma theory.