Arden Of Faversham

By (author) Martin White; Edited by White, Martin; Edited by Lockwood Tom; Volume editor White, Martin; Introduction by Lockwood Tom
Short description/annotation
This revised edition of Arden of Faversham contains a completely re-written Introduction that brings the text up to date with the latest performance history, criticism and research and fresh insight into the context in which the play was written.
Description
This ''lamentable and true tragedy'', as it is announced on its title page, dramatises a domestic murder of the sort that nowadays scandalises and thrills the readers of tabloid newspapers. Although the title advertises ''the great malice and dissimulation of a wicked woman'' and her ''unsatiable desire of filthie lust'', the unknown playwright with great dramatic skill and psychological insight manages to balance the motivations of all the main characters. Thomas Arden, one of the rapacious landlords so reviled in mid-Elizabethan social drama, was murdered at his own house in Faversham, Kent, in 1551. His murderers, it turned out, had been hired by his wife Alice, thrall to Mosby, who hoped to rise socially by marrying a rich widow. As the introduction to this edition shows, sexual and material covetousness is the central theme running through the play, which is commonly rated ''unquestionably the best of all Elizabethan domestic tragedies''.
Biographical note
Dr Tom Lockwood, Lecturer in English at the University of Birmingham. His article The Sheridans at Work'' was awarded The Review of English Studies Essay Prize and his book Ben Jonson in the Romantic Age is published by Oxford University Press.
Promotional headline
Accessible, easy to use and with a focus on performance, New Mermaids bring the finest classic drama texts alive for the actor, student and theatre-goer alike Edited to the highest bibliographical and textual standards with detailed notes to the text Full Introduction provides a critical account of the play, staging conventions and recent stage history
Description for collection
New Mermaids is a series of over 50 modernized and fully annotated classic plays, with an active programme of new editions. New Mermaids are edited and updated by experienced teachers who are internationally recognized as authorities in their field. They are ideal for, and accessible to, actors, theatre-goers and students and are printed in a clear, easy-to-use format, with annotations below the text and a comprehensive introduction. General Editors: William C. Carroll, Boston University, USA and Tiffany Stern, The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK.
Feature
Accessible, easy to use and with a focus on performance, New Mermaids bring the finest classic drama texts alive for the actor, student and theatre-goer alike
Feature
Edited to the highest bibliographical and textual standards with detailed notes to the text
Feature
Full Introduction provides a critical account of the play, staging conventions and recent stage history