Middleton and Tourneur

Each generation needs to be introduced to the culture and great works of the past and to reinterpret them in its own ways. This series re-examines the important English dramatists of earlier centuries in the light of new information, new interests and new attitudes. The books will be relevant to those interested in literature, theatre and cultural history, and to theatre-goers and general readers who want an up-to-date view of these dramatists and their plays, with the emphasis on performance and relevant cultural history.
Thomas Middleton's writing career spanned the Jacobean period more or less exactly. He was engaged in virtually every activity open to the professional dramatist, and his work - often strikingly innovatory and experimental - engaged directly with the moor issues of his time. In this study, selected texts are related to Middleton's work overall, and set in their historical and theatrical context. A brief discussion of the vexed question of the authorship of The Revenger's Tragedy (often attributed to Middleton) is followed by discussion of that play and Tourneur's undisputed work, The Atheist's Tragedy.