Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
<p>Abstract:</p><p>Early modern character lists, frequently overlooked but vital paratexts, have a manifest ability to shape readers' understandings of the plot and characters. This article traces their origins from performance-oriented guides in Tudor interludes, through the para-textual scarcity of playbooks associated with the emergence of professional theaters in the 1580s and 1590s, to their reinvention as maps of fictional social spaces in Stuart and Restoration drama. It argues that, far from being mechanical lists, <i>dramatis personae</i> offered authors a space to revisit their characters and in this bear evidence of authorial self-reflection; furthermore, it evaluates lists provided by stationers as early editorial responses to the dramatic texts. The trends promoted by authors and stationers, however, did not go uncontested by readers who readily appropriated character lists to better suit their needs. Considering the influence of these agents, the article examines the evolution of character lists in the context of publishing and theatrical enterprises, as well as that of turbulent social changes in the seventeenth century.</p>
Studies in Philology – University of North Carolina Press
Published: Apr 6, 2018
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.