"Epicene" is now one of the most widely-studied of Johnson's plays. Brilliantly exploiting the Jacobean convention whereby boys played female roles, it satirizes the newly fashionable and sexually ambiguous world of the West End of London, where courtly wit rubs shoulders with commercial values. This authoritative edition is based on a thorough re-examination of the earliest texts. The introduction analyses the play as originally written for the newly formed Children of the Queen's Revels, and performed at the little-known Whitefriars Theatre. Dutton discusses the composition of the play, which took place during a critical period in Jonson's life and career, when he was established as the principal writer of entertainments at the court. His relationships at the time with ambitious wits such as John Donne, Sir Edward Herbert and the actor Nathan Field are examined as models for the principal characters.
Dutton also considers the play in relation to the religious tensions of the era, as well as the masques which Jonson had recently written for Queen Anne and her ladies, and the newly-recovered "Entertainment at Britain's Burse" (reproduced here as an appendix), which had been staged earlier in 1609. This challengingly historicized text of "Epicene" should be of use to all serious students of early modern drama.
- ISBN10 0719055431
- ISBN13 9780719055430
- Publish Date 25 December 2003
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 22 July 2009
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Manchester University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English