The Movement Towards Subversion: The English History Play from Skelton to Shakespeare

The Movement Towards Subversion explores the theme of power in the Renaissance English history play. It analyzes the growing subversion of the sociopolitical hierarchy in Renaissance drama from Skelton's Magnificence to Shakespeare's King Lear. Unlike most scholarship, this book studies the lesser-known, often neglected dramas plus some familiar "canonical" works. These plays tell us a lot about political and religious attitudes in sixteenth-century England. Instead of discussing the plays in regard to their relationships with and influences upon Shakespearean drama, the author analyzes the plays on their own terms. This book also shows how dramatists employ medieval history in their plays to express subversive ideas about Tudor political situations.