Books in the Revels Student Editions series

"The Jew of Malta" was influential on Shakespeare when he came to write "The Merchant of Venice", the play exploring anti-Semitism and revenge. An introduction discusses the significance of this play, with detailed commentary provided for meanings of difficult words, lines and references.

Usually considered to be John Marston's masterpiece, "The Malcontent" is one of the most original and complex plays of the Elizabethan theatre - complex in genre, structure and language. This edition has notes designed for modern undergraduate use.

Masques of difference' presents an annotated edition of four seventeenth-century entertainments written by Ben Jonson, which reflect the royal court's self-representation as moral and just, in contrast to stylised images of chaotically (and exotically) 'othered' groups: Africans, the Irish, witches, and the homoeroticised figure of the Gypsy. -- .

Women Beware Women is among the most powerful and adroitly-plotted of Jacobean tragedies. Written by Thomas Middleton, a later contemporary of Shakespeare, the play deals with topics of enduring fascination such as sexual and financial greed, the sexual exploitation of women by a manipulative older woman and murderous revenge. -- .

John Ford's tragedy, first printed in 1633, takes as its theme incest between brother and sister. This edition includes notes and an introduction which has been rewritten to take account of recent studies and approaches.

In the REVELS PLAYS series. An anthology of plays which illustrate the ways in which both theatrical pleasures and social relations complicate the connection between women and plays in early modern drama. The plays are annotated and introduced by McLuskie using contemporary and feminist critical approaches. Aimed at students of Elizabethan drama.

Based on the reprinted Revels Plays Edition of 1964, the notes to this play have been augmented to cast futher light on Webster's dialogue. A new introduction sets the tragedy in the context of pre-Civil War England and discusses the play's themes, action and visual imagery.

In "Bartholomew Fair", Jonson satirizes the religious, social and political conflicts of Jacobean England. The play represents the climax to Jonson's great comic period. This edition includes glosses and notes intended to assist students, and examines elements of the play from a feminist viewpoint.

In this study of sexual and political intrigue, a fascinating but dangerous woman consents to the murder of her ineffectual husband. Her defence against the charge of adultery transforms the lurid tale of crime into high tragedy.

The "revenge" play became the most durable and commercially successful type of drama on the Elizabethan stage. This example by Thomas Kyd, who was one of the originators of the genre, brings to life the intrigues of the Spanish court, dramatically juxtaposing romantic passion with violent death.

This is the first edition for students and general readers of a pro-woman reply to Shakespeare's 'The Tamer of the Shrew' written in Shakespeare's lifetime . Co-edited by a feminist critic and a distinguished textual scholar, it makes clear why 'The Tamer Tamed' should be restored to the theatrical repertoire and the literary canon. -- .

"Tamburlaine the Great" achieved, and sustained, great success on the Elizabethan stage, and it speaks to our own time too, when it has been the subject of numerous productions. Cunningham and Henderson illuminate the themes of the play to help make it accessible to today's readers. In the REVELS PLAYS STUDENT EDITIONS series.

This classic text is the tale of a woman who becomes involved in murder without realizing the terrible price she will pay for it. This edition includes an introduction which analyzes the play in detail, and a commentary illuminating difficulties in the play for the modern reader.

Depicts a morally corrupt world where the desire for justice is contaminated by the obsession for revenge. The characters take pleasure in watching adultery, incest and murder. The play's chief moral spokesman, Vindice, is at the same time enamoured of and disgusted by, the luxury of the court.

This edition of the multi-authored text The Witch of Edmonton offers a thorough reconsideration of the text, comprehensive notes and glossary, together with a complete transcription of the original pamphlet by Henry Goodcole.