The Devil and the Sacred in English Drama, 1350}}}1642 [Hardcover]

This book, first published in 2000, is a history of stage devils in early English drama.John Cox tells the intriguing story of stage devils from their earliest appearance in English plays to the closing of the theatres by parliamentary order in 1642. The book spans both medieval and Renaissance drama and includes the medieval Mystery cycles on the one hand, through to plays by Greene, Marlowe, Shakespeare (1 and 2 Henry VI), Jonson, Middleton and Davenant.John Cox tells the intriguing story of stage devils from their earliest appearance in English plays to the closing of the theatres by parliamentary order in 1642. The book spans both medieval and Renaissance drama and includes the medieval Mystery cycles on the one hand, through to plays by Greene, Marlowe, Shakespeare (1 and 2 Henry VI), Jonson, Middleton and Davenant.John Cox tells the intriguing story of stage devils from their earliest appearance in English plays to the closing of the theaters by parliamentary order in 1642. The book spans both medieval and Renaissance drama and includes the medieval Mystery cycles on the one hand, through to plays by Greene, Marlowe, Shakespeare (Henry VI Parts 1 and 2), Jonson, Middleton and Davenant.List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Stage devils and oppositional thinking; 2. The devil and the sacred in the English mystery plays; 3. Stage devils and sacramental community in non-cycle plays; 4. Stage devils and early social satire; 5. Protestant devils and the new community; 6. The devils of Dr Faustus; 7. Reacting to Marlowe; 8. The devil and the sacred on the Shakespearean stage: theatre and belief; 9. Traditional morality and magical thinking; 10. New directions; Appendix: devil plays in English, 13501642; Notes; Index. ...Professor Cox convincingly reevaluates the role of the Devil in early drama and establishes this evil character as in opposition to the social and religious good - in other words, as embodying a function of perversity to fit all sil“8