Staging Domesticity Household Work and English Identity in Early Modern Drama [Hardcover]

Interprets plays in light of their representations of domestic life in the early modern period.In this book Wendy Wall argues that representations of housework in the early modern period helped to forge conceptions of national identity. Rich with a detailed account of household practices, Staging Domesticity reads plays on the London stage in the light of the first printed cookbooks in England. Working from original historical sources, Wall shows that domesticity was represented as familiar but also alien. Wall analyses a wide range of the repertoire, including some now little-known plays, as well as key works in the period by Shakespeare and others.In this book Wendy Wall argues that representations of housework in the early modern period helped to forge conceptions of national identity. Rich with a detailed account of household practices, Staging Domesticity reads plays on the London stage in the light of the first printed cookbooks in England. Working from original historical sources, Wall shows that domesticity was represented as familiar but also alien. Wall analyses a wide range of the repertoire, including some now little-known plays, as well as key works in the period by Shakespeare and others.Wendy Wall argues that representations of housework in the early modern period helped to forge conceptions of national identity. With a detailed account of household practices, this study interprets plays on the London stage in reference to the first printed cookbooks in England. Working from original historical sources, Wall reveals that domesticity was represented as familiar as well as exotic . She analyzes a wide range of plays including some now little-known as well as key works of the early modern period.List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: in the nations' kitchen; 1. Familiarity and pleasure in the English household guide, 15001700; 2. Needles and birches: pedagogy, domesticity, and the advent of English comedy; 3. Why does Puck sweep? Shakl31