The Devil and the Sacred in English Drama, 1350-1642

John D. Cox is Professor of English at Hope College, Michigan. He has taught at Westmont College, the University of Victoria BC, Harvard University, Calvin College and the University of California at Berkeley. His books include Shakespeare and the Dramaturgy of Power (1989) and A New History of Early English Drama, co-edited with David Scottt Kastan, which was chosen as the winner of the 1997 Best Book of the Year Award by the American Association for Theatre in Higher Education.

• 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, 1350–1642; 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 situations." The Early Drama, Art, and Music Review