Passionate Playgoing in Early Modern England

Description

Allison P. Hobgood tells a new story about the emotional experiences of theatregoers in Renaissance England. Through detailed case studies of canonical plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, Kyd and Heywood, the reader will discover what it felt like to be part of performances in English theatre and appreciate the key role theatregoers played in the life of early modern drama. How were spectators moved - by delight, fear or shame, for example - and how did their own reactions in turn make an impact on stage performances? Addressing these questions and many more, this book discerns not just how theatregoers were altered by drama's affective encounters, but how they were undeniable influences upon those encounters. Overall, Hobgood reveals a unique collaboration between the English world and stage, one that significantly reshapes the ways we watch, read and understand early modern drama.

Allison P. Hobgood is Assistant Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies at Willamette University, Oregon. Her fields of interest are Shakespeare and early modern literature, disability studies, and women's and gender studies. She is co-editor with David H. Wood of Recovering Disability in Early Modern England (2013) and has published articles in journals including Shakespeare Bulletin and Disability Studies Quarterly. Recently, she contributed a chapter on early modern affect and Macbeth for Shakespearean Sensations (Cambridge, 2014).