Puritanism and Theatre

• Introductory note; 1. Time and place; 2. Puritanism, censorship and opposition to the theatre; 3. Middleton as satirical journalist; 4. Early satirical comedies; 5. How anti-Puritan are Middleton's city comedies?; 6. Money and morals in Middleton's city comedies; 7. Middle years: tragi-comedy and moral comedy; 8. City employments; 9. Hard times and Hengist, King of Kent; 10. Political satire: A Game at Chess; 11. City tragedy; 12. Drama and opposition, 1619–1640; 13. From popular drama to leveller style: a postscript; Appendices; Index.

'! a closely-argued, well-written, and meticulously documented book. Its stregths are too many to be properly credited here. Suffice it to say that it will richly repay the attention of anyone interested in Middleton and his period.' Notes and Queries 'Margot Heinemann's study is original in conception and efficiently argued, and its conclusions ! suggest the necessity of modifying views which are still prevalent. The effect of this study on one's view of Middleton is like that of seeing a familiar picture which has been cleaned.' Times Higher Education Supplement '! a most important book ! [It] should transform our appreciation of the greatest dramatist among Shakespeare's successors, thanks to its solid historical foundation ! Puritanism and Theatre will make all who read it seriously rethink the cultural history of early seventeenth-century England.' Christopher Hill, Literature in History