Theatre and Empire: Great Britain on the London Stages Under James vi and I

Theatre and empire explores the genesis of British national identity in the reign of King James VI and I, examining the political language of the King's project and cultural representations of empire on the public and private stages. It argues that a group of playwrights celebrated a new national consciousness in works such as Middletons Hengist, King of Kent, Rowleys The Birth of Merlin, and Shakespeares Cymbeline.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 01 October 2020
Publisher: Manchester University Press

Theatre and empire delves into the origins of British national identity during the reign of King James VI and I. While devolution is currently decentralizing Britain, this book explores the very foundations of the concept of a united kingdom. It does so by examining two key aspects: the political language used by the King to replace England, Scotland, and Wales with a single kingdom of Great Britain, and the cultural representations of empire on both the public and private stages. The book makes a compelling argument that between 1603 and 1625, a group of playwrights celebrated a newfound national consciousness in works as diverse as Middleton's Hengist, King of Kent, Rowley's The Birth of Merlin, and Shakespeare's Cymbeline. While Jacobean interdisciplinary studies may be fewer in comparison to Elizabethan and Caroline works, the book seeks to rectify this imbalance by providing a fresh and insightful appraisal of James Stuart's reign.

Weight: 342g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526151728