History, Religion, and Violence

Professor Davidson is concerned here to chart public theatrical display as a barometer of developments in the English Middle Ages and Renaissance. This book brings together twelve previously published articles on historical and religious aspects of the early English theatre as well as an original essay on Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and the Papacy. Other essays on Renaissance drama focus on Shakespeare against the background of the political and religious crosscurrents of the time. The treatment of medieval drama is dealt with under two headings, the first of which treats sacred violence in the mysteries. The second presents investigations of the cultural contexts for early English drama, from analysis of the claim that the mystery plays were informed by the spirit of Carnival to the signs of Doomsday in the pageant wagons on the streets of Coventry and Chester and in analogous representations in the visual arts.