The Figure Of The Crowd In Early Modern London: The City And Its Double (early Modern Cultural Studies 1500–1700)

This Book Examines The Cultural Phenomenon Of The Urban Crowd In The Context Of Early Modern London's Population Crisis. Munro Explores The Crowd's Double Function As A Symbol Of The City's Growth And As The Necessary Context For The Public Performance Of Urban Culture. Its Central Argument Is That The Figure Of The Crowd Acts As A Supplement To The Symbolic Space Of The City, At Once Providing A Tangible Referent For Urban Meaning And Threatening The Legibility Of That Meaning Through Its Motive Force And Uncontrollable Energy. Crowded Spaces -- Imaginary Numbers : City, Crowd, Theater -- London's Mirror : Civic Ritual And The Crowd -- Shakespeare's London : The Scene Of London In The Second Tetralogy And Henry Viii -- Distracted Multitude : The Theater And The Many-headed Monster -- Rome, Etc. : Sejannus, Julius Caesar, And The Prodigious City -- A Kind Of Nothing : Plague Time In Early Modern London. Ian Munro. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-247) And Index. The Figure of the Crowd in Early Modern London examines the cultural phenomenon of the urban crowd in the context of early modern London's population crisis. The book explores the crowd's double function as a symbol of the city's growth and as the necessary context for the public performance of urban culture. Its central argument is that the figure of the crowd acts as a supplement to the symbolic space of the city, at once providing a tangible referent for urban meaning and threatening the legibility of that meaning through its motive force and uncontrollable energy.