The Woman in the Moon: By John Lyly

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Woman in the Moon: By John Lyly
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Leah Scragg
SeriesThe Revels Plays
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:160
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 138
Category/GenrePlays, playscripts
Literary studies - c 1500 to c 1800
Literary studies - plays and playwrights
ISBN/Barcode 9780719072451
ClassificationsDewey:822.3
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Manchester University Press
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publication Date 1 July 2011
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

His last known work and the only one to be written primarily in verse, The Woman in the Moon is among Lyly's most entertaining plays. Turning upon the construction of the female character, it has been read as highly misogynistic, and as a sixteenth-century feminist manifesto. The biblical version of the creation of woman is overturned in the first scene when the play's supreme deity, Nature, presents her ultimate creation, Pandora (memorably played in 1928 by Katharine Hepburn), to a group of Utopian shepherds, who compete for her love. Their amatory pursuit is complicated by the seven planets, whose attributes have been bestowed by Nature on her new creation, and who decide to take revenge by subjecting Pandora to their influence. The action rapidly develops into a dazzling comedy of intrigue, resulting in both an explanation for the female disposition and the creation of an 'alternative' version of the myth of the man in the moon. Newly edited from the first edition (1597), The Woman in the Moon will be of interest to all students of sixteenth-century drama. It is complemented by generous notes and commentary, as well as a full introduction and stage history. -- .

Author Biography

Leah Scragg is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester

Reviews

This thoroughly annotated volume provides a detailed study of the play's sources. Patrick Richards, Day by Day