Synopses & Reviews
Review
andldquo;The argument about poverty and hunger is completely convincing, and the breadth of knowledge across languages, cultures, and theatrical conditions is breathtaking.andrdquo;andmdash;Cary M. Mazer, University of Pennsylvania
Review
andldquo;Robert Henkeandrsquo;s transnational, interdisciplinary study offers a perceptive and illuminating counterpoint between texts and contexts, hunger and gluttony, the England of Shakespeare and the Italy of Ruzante, between a literary approach and a historical one, and above all between actors as beggars, soliciting donations, and beggars as actors, performing their poverty.andrdquo;andmdash;Peter Burke, author,
Popular Culture in Early Modern EuropeSynopsis
Whereas previous studies of poverty and early modern theatre have concentrated on England and the criminal rogue,
Poverty and Charity in Early Modern Theatre and Performance takes a transnational approach, which reveals a greater range of attitudes and charitable practices regarding the poor than state poor laws and rogue books suggest. Close study of German and Latin beggar catalogues, popular songs performed in Italian piazzas, the Paduan actor-playwright Ruzante, the commedia dellandrsquo;arte in both Italy and France, and Shakespeare demonstrate how early modern theatre and performance could reveal the gap between official policy and actual practices regarding the poor.
About the Author
Robert Henke is professor of drama and comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of
Pastoral Transformations: Italian Tragicomedy and Shakespeareandrsquo;s Late Plays and
Performance and Literature in the Commedia dellandrsquo;Arte. He coedited
Transnational Exchange in Early Modern Theater and
Transnational Mobilities in Early Modern Theater. Codirector of the Prison Education Project at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center and Washington University, he lives in St. Louis, Missouri.