Four Jacobean Sex Tragedies: William Barksted and Lewis Machin: The Insatiate Countess; Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher: The Maid's Tragedy; Thomas ... of Valentinian (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

by William Barksted (Author), Lewis Machin (Author), Francis Beaumont (Author), John Fletcher (Author), Thomas Middleton (Author), Martin Wiggins (Editor) "Isabella, Countess of Swevia..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Jacobean Tragedy explores the tensions between the disruptive energies of sex and seventeenth century social, cultural, and political values with an exceptional frankness, and the plays collected in this volume demonstrate the genre at its most sinister and explicit. Included here are The Insatiate Countess, The Maid's Tragedy, The Maiden's Tragedy, and The Tragedy of Valentinian.

About the Author

Martin Wiggins is Fellow of The Shakespeare Institute and Lecturer in English at the University of Birmingham.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192823205
• ISBN-13: 978-0192823205
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #688,984 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wiggins is a smashing editor., June 23, 1999

By A Customer

Since Amazon.com can't be bothered to list the contents of all the books, I thought I'd be helpful: this book contains The Maid's Tragedy (Beaumont and Fletcher), The Maiden's Tragedy (Middleton), The Tragedy of Valentinian, and The Insatiate Countess (from a draft by Marston).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Lynch, move on over!, September 14, 2005

By	Q (my office) - See all my reviews

Oh my goodness! What a wonderful gruesome collection of early 17th century plays! Jacobean drama is conventionally characterized as "decadent," and this anthology seems to justify the appellation. How about nymphomania, necrophilia, incest, murder, poison, blackmail, adultery, and rape? Although the subject matter is sensational, these are also serious psychological studies, well-written and well-plotted dramas. These fascinating plays are not widely available, but they should be. Anybody interested in 17th century English drama and culture will enjoy these plays. The plays are especially provocative in their treatment of monarchy; the royal court is typically portrayed as deeply corrupted, tyrannous, and decadent. Amazingly, for an age of royal absolutism, these plays seem to justify regicide. David Lynch, more over, here come the Jacobean sex tragedies.

I agree with the comments of the previous reviewer that the editing leaves much to be desired. The use of endnotes instead of footnotes is horribly distracting. I finally just stopped using the notes. Most of the notes are unnecessary and add little to the understanding of the text. If you're familiar with reading Shakespeare, you can probably comprehend these texts without looking at the endnotes.