Francis Beaumont ist ein bedeutender Dramatiker der englischen Renaissance, der vor allem für seine einflussreichen Zusammenarbeiten mit John Fletcher bekannt ist. Seine frühen Werke zeigten eine Tendenz zu ausführlichen Beschreibungen und fantasievollen Einfällen, einen Stil, den er jedoch schnell weiterentwickelte. Gemeinsam mit Fletcher schuf er Stücke, die nicht nur ihre Karrieren begründeten, sondern auch den Geschmack für Tragikomödie weckten, ein Genre, das zu einem Markenzeichen ihrer gemeinsamen Unternehmungen wurde. Beaumonts literarischer Einfluss reicht über die Bühne hinaus, da er zu seiner Zeit auch als versierter Dichter Anerkennung fand.
Die kulturelle Bedeutung dieses Werkes wird von Wissenschaftlern anerkannt, da es einen wichtigen Teil des zivilisatorischen Wissens darstellt. Es wurde aus dem Originalmaterial reproduziert und bleibt so nah wie möglich am ursprünglichen Werk. Dadurch sind die ursprünglichen Urheberrechtsvermerke, Bibliotheksstempel und andere Notizen erhalten geblieben, die das Werk mit bedeutenden Bibliotheken weltweit verbinden.
The book is a facsimile reprint of a scarce antiquarian work, preserving its historical significance despite potential imperfections like marks and flawed pages. It aims to protect and promote important literature, offering readers access to a high-quality modern edition that remains true to the original.
The volumes feature the plays traditionally attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher, highlighting the collaborative nature of Fletcher's work with various dramatists beyond Beaumont. Additionally, the texts include revisions made by different authors over time, offering a complex view of the canon's development. This collection provides insight into the intricacies of authorship and the evolution of these classic plays.
The eighth volume in a ten-volume series offers critical old-spelling texts of the plays by Beaumont and Fletcher. This edition continues to provide scholars and enthusiasts with access to these classic works, preserving their original language and style for a deeper understanding of the playwrights' contributions to English literature.
The book is a facsimile reprint of a scarce antiquarian work, preserving its historical significance despite potential imperfections like marks and flawed pages. It aims to protect and promote cultural literature by making high-quality, affordable editions accessible to readers.
Norman Douglas's life was marked by a blend of literary ambition and personal turmoil. Born in Austria and raised in Scotland, he entered the diplomatic service but left after a scandal. His move to Italy led to a tumultuous marriage and eventual divorce, prompting a shift towards a dedicated writing career. Douglas's work, published under the pseudonym 'Normyx', garnered attention despite his bohemian lifestyle and continuous controversies. His later years in Capri were overshadowed by illness and a tragic end, reflecting the complexity of his character and legacy.
Philaster, a tragicomedy by Beaumont and Fletcher, mirrors Shakespeare's late plays with its intricate plot of love, disguise, and danger. This edition features a modernized text and extensive commentary, enhancing understanding. It includes a performance-focused introduction, making it ideal for students and scholars of Early Modern drama.
'Let him kill a lion with a pestle, husband; let him kill a lion with a pestle.' So exclaims the Grocer's wife who, with her husband and servants, is attending one of the London's elite playhouses where a theatre comany has just begun to perform. Peeved at the fact that all the plays they see are satires on the lives and values of London's citizenry, the Grocer and his wife interrupt and demand a play that instead contains chivalric quests and courtly love. What's more, they nominate their apprentice Rafe to take on the hero's role of the knight in this entirely new play. The author, Francis Beaumont, ends up not just satirising the grocers' naive taste for romance but parodying his own example of citizen comedy. This play-within-a-play becomes a pastiche of contemporary plays that scorned those who were not courtiers or at least gentlemen or ladies. Like Cervantes in Don Quixote, Beaumont exposes the folly of those that take representations for realities, but also celebrates their idealism and love of adventure. The editor, Michael Hattaway, is editor of plays by Shakespeare and Jonson as well as of several volumes of critical essays, and author of Elizabethan Popular Theatre, Hamlet: The Critics Debate, and Renaissance and Reformations: An Introduction to Early Modern English Literature. He is Professor Emeritus of English Literature in the University of Sheffield.