English Renaissance Tragedy: Ideas of Freedom RELATED TITLES Othello: The State of Play edited by Lena Orlin Macbeth: The State of Play edited by Ann Thompson Emotional Excess on the Shakespearean Stage, Bridget Escolme Essential Shakespeare, Pamela Bickley and Jennifer Stevens Doing Shakespeare, Simon Palfrey English Renaissance Tragedy Ideas of Freedom Peter Holbrook Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Imprint previously known as Arden Shakespeare 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY, THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2015 © Peter Holbrook, 2015 Peter Holbrook has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4725-7281-3 PB: 978-1-4725-7280-6 ePDF: 978-1-4725-7283-7 ePub: 978-1-4725-7282-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Series: Shakespeare and Theory, 1234567X, volume 2 Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN For Annie, William, and Eloise CONTENTS Acknowledgements ix Preface x Chronology of Authors and Works xii Note on the Texts xiv Part One: Tragedy and Freedom 1 Introduction 3 1 The Tragic Genre 7 2 Tragedy: Freedom, Order and Tyranny 15 3 Freedom, Tyranny and Order in the English Renaissance 39 4 The Rhetoric of Disenchantment 55 5 Going to the Theatre in Shakespeare’s London 75 Part Two: Pursuing Freedom in English Renaissance Tragedy 93 viii Contents 6 Gorboduc 95 7 Tamburlaine, Parts One and Two 99 8 Doctor Faustus 107 9 The Jew of Malta 113 10 Edward II 121 11 Arden of Faversham 133 12 Hamlet 137 13 Othello 143 14 King Lear 151 15 Antony and Cleopatra 161 16 The Revenger’s Tragedy 169 17 The White Devil 175 18 The Duchess of Malfi 179 19 The Changeling 189 20 ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore 193 Conclusion 199 Notes 209 Bibliography 225 Index 231 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Heartfelt thanks to Margaret Bartley at Bloomsbury for her assistance and encouragement, and, above all, patience during the writing of this book. Xanthe Ashburner, my postgraduate student at the University of Queensland, read the manuscript closely, saving me from many errors and suggesting numerous improvements. Thanks also to Richard Newman, for help with proofs, and to Chris Tiffin, who prepared the Index. Finally, I acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council in providing me with the necessary time to concen- trate on writing.