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Overview
"Bartholomew Fair is the climactic play of Ben Jonson's great comic period. Using the Fair as a symbolic representation of religious, social and political conflicts in Jacobean England, Jonson satirizes Puritans, fortune hunters, country bumpkins and inept representatives of the justice system, along with sharpsters and conmen who inhabit the Fair. Rich in unforgettable characters like Ursla the pig woman, Adam Overdo the disguised JP and Troubleall the wandering madman, Bartholomew Fair combines a celebration of festivity with an attack on the excesses of natural life. The play was produced simultaneously at Court and the Hope Theatre, site of bear-baiting, and through his and the puppet-show with which the play concludes, Jonson reflects on drama, actors, the theatre and his rivals Marlowe and Shakespeare." "Based on E. A. Horsman's original Revels Plays text this edition is the first to use the findings of feminist scholarship in examining the play's concern with forced marriage, pregnancy, sexual commerce and widowhood. Glosses and notes are intended for students and playgoers, clarifying the special languages and dialects Jonson employs to individualize the characters in this prose masterpiece."--BOOK JACKET.Book Details
Published
January 1, 2011
Publisher
Digireads.com
Pages
84
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781420940817