Disguise on the Early Modern English Stage

Disguise devices figure in many early modern English plays, and an examination of them clearly affords an important reflection on the growth of early theatre as well as on important aspects of the developing nation. In this study Peter Hyland examines various conceptual issues that provide a background to theatrical disguise (the relation of self and other, the meaning of mask and performance). He goes on to examine a range of plays under three broad headings. He considers moral issues (the almost universal association of disguise with evil); social issues (sumptuary legislation, clothing, and the theatre, and constructions of class, gender and national or racial identity); and aesthetic issues (disguise as an emblem of theatre, and the significance of disguise for the dramatic artist). The study serves to examine the significant ways in which disguise devices have been used in early modern drama in England.

Contents:Introduction;Part One: Critical treatments of disguiseThe mask; self and other; disguise/personation/theatre; antitheatrical prejudices; the performance of disguisePart Two: Moral IssuesDisguise and evil; disguise in medieval theatre; moral ambiguity of disguise on the early modern stagePart Three: Social Issuessumptuary legislation, clothing, and the theatre; constructions of identity; class identity; gender identity; national/racial identityPart Four: Aesthetic issuesdisguise & metatheatre; disguise & genre; disguise & the dramatic artistConclusion