Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that in recent years, two related and overlapping schools of literary theory have emerged that have offered competing responses to the relationship between Renaissance drama and the political power of Tudor and Stuart Britain. To determine the differences in these perspectives, this paper provides an analysis of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors," Ben Jonson's "The Alchemist," Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy" and Heywood's "A Woman Killed with Kindness". The writer looks at these works from the perspective of two modes of criticism or theory, with various criticisms from the new historicist camp and cultural materialist camp being reviewed. An assessment of the complexities of these modes is also provided, taking into account the social, theoretical, and critical movements that informed them. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors."
Ben Jonson's "The Alchemist."
Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy."
Thomas Heywood's "A Woman Killed with Kindness"
Analysis
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"This relationship between social contract and means of production becomes even clearer when its importance in the community was taken into account, with marriage representing both a socially acceptable framework in which people could live together and have children, it was inextricably related to how people earned their livings and what roles they played in this society. In this regard, Orlin emphasizes that although marriage ceremonies feature prominently in the opening and conclusion of the play, there is a difference between the celebratory nature of the occasion today and the implications the institution had during this period in history. There is no romantic comedy involved in the marriage of John and Anne Frankford, for example, and the opening scene ... "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bate, Jonathan. Shakespeare and Ovid. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2001.
• Bradshaw, Graham. Misrepresentations: Shakespeare and the Materialists. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993.
• Cartelli, Thomas. Marlowe, Shakespeare and the Economy of Theatrical Experience. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.
• Crane, Mary Thomas. Shakespeare's Brain: Reading with Cognitive Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.

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