Thomas Middleton and the Plural Politics of Jacobean Drama

Thomas Middleton and the Plural Politics of Jacobean Drama represents the first sustained study of Middletons dramatic works as responses to James Is governance. Through examining Middletons poiesis in relation to the political theology of Jacobean London, Kaethler explores early forms of free speech, namely parrhsia, and rhetorical devices, such as irony and allegory, to elucidate the ways in which Middletons plural art exposes the limitations of the monarchs sovereign image. By drawing upon earlier forms of dramatic intervention, Jamess writings, and popular literature that blossomed during the Jacobean period, including news pamphlets, the book surveys a selection of Middletons writings, ranging from his first extant play The Phoenix (1604) to his scandalous finale A Game at Chess (1624). In the course of this investigation, the author identifies that although Middletons drama spurs political awareness and questions authority, it nevertheless simultaneously promotes alternative structures of power, which manifest as misogyny and white supremacy.