The Aesthetics of Spectacle in Early Modern Drama and Modern Cinema : Robert Greene's Theatre of Attractions

Examining the work of the Elizabethan playwright, Robert Greene, this book argues that Greene's plays are innovative in their use of spectacle. Its most striking feature is the use of the one-to-one analogies between Greene's drama and modern cinema, in order to explore the plays' stage effects. This is a highly original study, which offers an innovative new approach towards the study of early modern drama. This book examines the work of the Elizabethan playwright, Robert Greene, arguing that his plays are innovative in their use of spectacle. This study's most striking feature is the use of the one-to-one analogies between Greene's drama and modern cinema, in order to explore the plays' stage effects. While recent Shakespearean criticism interprets his drama through the lens of performance, criticism of non-Shakespearean drama continues to disconnect the plays from even the scarce performances of them today. This book aims to bring the study of performance into the realm of non-Shakespearean drama so that the plays of Shakespeare's contemporaries might not descend further into obscurity. This innovative study advocates the rejection of a purely text-based interpretation of drama and emphasizes the powerful visual dimension of the early modern stage Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-22 The Aesthetics of Spectacle....Pages 23-49 Front Matter....Pages 51-51 The Leviathan in Thomas Lodge and Robert Greene’s A Looking Glass for London and England....Pages 53-69 Resurrecting the Body in Robert Greene’s James IV (c. 1590)....Pages 70-82 The Brazen Head in Alphonsus King of Aragon and Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay....Pages 83-106 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Madness and Poetic Inspiration in Orlando Furioso....Pages 109-126 The Aesthetics of Violence in Selimus....Pages 127-139 Conclusion....Pages 140-144 Back Matter....Pages 145-211