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Dutton presents an accessible and balanced assessment of the particular difficulties which Middleton poses for a modern audience (and critics) (Years Work in English Studies )
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This volume contains the four plays by Thomas Middleton which have most impressed the modern world: "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside" is the most complex amd effective of the city comedies; "Women Beware Women" and "The Changeling" (with William Rowley) are two of the most powerful Jacobean tragedies outside of Shakespeare -- studies in lust, power, violence, and self-delusive psychology; "A Game at Chess" was the single most popular play of the whole Shakespearean era, a satirical exposé of Jesuit plotting and Anglo-Spanish politics which played tp pacifist houses at the Globe until King James and his ministers banned it. The best-value collection available with the most officially up-to-date introduction; all the play texts are newly edited with richly informative annotation.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Too often overshadowed by Webster, Women Beware Women is Middleton's great tragedy of sexual transgression and dark desires. Set in an imaginary Florence, this centres on lust as an economic commodity as various characters buy and sell bodies and are themselves bought and sold.
Especially interesting, I think, is Livia, the thirty-nine year old widow with wealth of her own who purchases love in the same way that her male counterparts do.
The heart of the pay lies in the brilliant game of chess scene in act two when the Duke seduces (rapes, in some productions) Bianca while her mother-in-law and Livia play chess beneath them.
Some modern productions flounder with the masque in the last act, but I think this is critical to understanding Middleton's bleak Calvinist moral vision, and to cut it out also removes the essential meaning of the play.
The Oxford edition has relatively up-to-date notes and introduction (1999) and is well laid out - a good edition of a dark and thrilling play.
Especially interesting, I think, is Livia, the thirty-nine year old widow with wealth of her own who purchases love in the same way that her male counterparts do.
The heart of the pay lies in the brilliant game of chess scene in act two when the Duke seduces (rapes, in some productions) Bianca while her mother-in-law and Livia play chess beneath them.
Some modern productions flounder with the masque in the last act, but I think this is critical to understanding Middleton's bleak Calvinist moral vision, and to cut it out also removes the essential meaning of the play.
The Oxford edition has relatively up-to-date notes and introduction (1999) and is well laid out - a good edition of a dark and thrilling play.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Neglected Masterpieces
7 Sep 2005
Format:Paperback
Thomas Middleton is one of the greatest playwrights of the early 17th century, and this is a collection of some of his best works. "Women Beware Women" and "The Changeling" are both devastating tragedies, fully comparable to Christopher Marlowe's and John Webster's greatest works. This collection also includes "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside," a good example of a 17th century London "city comedy." The editors also include a fascinating work of anti-catholic propaganda, "A Game at Chess," an historical allegory. "A Game at Chess" is not widely available, making this collection especially valuable.
The language of the plays is frequently quite difficult, making footnotes absolutely necessary. However, the editors of this work have inexplicably chosen to use endnotes instead of footnotes. This makes reading extremely slow and difficult, since there are 5 to 10 notes per page. For each page the reader must go to the back of the book 5 or 10 times to check the unfamiliar vocabulary, syntax, or sloppy 17th century editing.
For the reader interested in Middleton, there are other choices available, including a penguin collection (entitled FIVE PLAYS) which uses footnotes and includes "The Revenger's Tragedy" and another comedy in addition to the essential tragedies mentioned above. The Norton anthology of ENGLISH RENAISSANCE DRAMA includes Middleton's great tragedies in addition to the important cross-dressing comedy "The Roaring Girl," and also uses the more convenient footnotes.
The language of the plays is frequently quite difficult, making footnotes absolutely necessary. However, the editors of this work have inexplicably chosen to use endnotes instead of footnotes. This makes reading extremely slow and difficult, since there are 5 to 10 notes per page. For each page the reader must go to the back of the book 5 or 10 times to check the unfamiliar vocabulary, syntax, or sloppy 17th century editing.
For the reader interested in Middleton, there are other choices available, including a penguin collection (entitled FIVE PLAYS) which uses footnotes and includes "The Revenger's Tragedy" and another comedy in addition to the essential tragedies mentioned above. The Norton anthology of ENGLISH RENAISSANCE DRAMA includes Middleton's great tragedies in addition to the important cross-dressing comedy "The Roaring Girl," and also uses the more convenient footnotes.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Three of the best Jacobean plays
26 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
After Shakespeare and Ben Jonson's best work, the best plays from the Jacobean era are probably: Webster's Duchess of Malfi, Webster's The White Devil, The Revengers' Tragedy, The Changeling, Women Beware Women, and A Game at Chess. The last three are handily present in this volume.
My personal favorite is A Game at Chess, a brutal satire on Catholic conspiracies to subvert England. The reign of James I began with the gunpowder plot - an attempt by catholics to blow up the entire parliament and the king with it - but by the end of his reign James was trying to negotiate for his son to marry a Catholic princess from arch-catholic power Spain. A Game at Chess was written during those latter years in order to rouse sentiment against 'the spanish match', and it got Middleton into some trouble.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
If you are going to write a review do it right
5 May 2005
Format:Paperback
It's completely understandable if a certain piece of literature isn't suited to your personal tastes but to bash a work that is clearly of literary and historical value without even giving concrete reasons I can only attribute to a gross lack of understanding and general stupidity.
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