The Spanish Tragedy, Hamlet, Antonio's Revenge, The Tragedy of Hoffman, The Revenger's Tragedy

Five Revenge Tragedies

Emma Smith is Fellow and Tutor in English at Hertford College, Oxford. She has published widely on Shakespeare and on early modern drama, particularly on the plays in print and in performance. She is co-editor of The Elizabethan Top Ten: Defining Print Popularity in Early Modern England (Ashgate 2012) and is working on a book on the Shakespeare First Folio.

As the Elizabethan era gave way to the reign of James I, England grappled with corruption within the royal court and widespread religious anxiety. Dramatists responded with morally complex plays of dark wit and violent spectacle, exploring the nature of death, the abuse of power and vigilante justice. In Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy a father failed by the Spanish court seeks his own bloody retribution for his son's murder. Shakespeare's 1603 version of Hamlet creates an avenging Prince of unique psychological depth, while Chettle's The Tragedy of Hoffman is a fascinating reworking of Hamlet's themes, probably for a rival theatre company. In Marston's Antonio's Revenge, thwarted love leads inexorably to gory reprisals and in Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, malcontent Vindice unleashes an escalating orgy of mayhem on a debauched Duke for his bride's murder, in a ferocious satire reflecting the mounting disillusionment of the age. Emma Smith's introduction considers the political and religious climate behind the plays and the dramatic conventions within them. This edition includes a chronology, playwrights' biographies and suggestions for further reading.

Five Plays

Bryan Loughrey and Neil Taylor's introduction describes Jacobean theatre and discusses Middleton's themes and influences.

Thomas Middleton, one of the greatest of Jacobean dramatists,  was born in 1580, the son of a well-to-do London bricklayer. He went to Oxford but seems not to have gained a degree. Thereafter he pursued the precarious career of a professional writerin London. In a quarter of a century he wrote, either on his own or in collaboration, nearly fifty plays and other theatrical pieces. His greatest contemporary success was A Game at Chess, which was suppressed by the government. He died in 1627.

Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) was one of the most prolific and fascinating playwrights of the Jacobean era, producing nearly fifty theatrical pieces in a quarter of a century. This collection comprises five of his most powerful plays, from the comedies satirizing city life, A Trick to Catch the Old One, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, to his later tragedies Women Beware Women and The Changeling, in which Middleton reveals a world dominated by the corrupting power of lust and subject to the futility of human pretensions. Also included is The Revenger's Tragedy, originally ascribed to Cyril Tourneur, a Revenge Play infused with sardonic wit and biting irony.

Three Revenge Tragedies

Three masterpieces of Jacobean drama, dwelling on death, decay, and the end of the reign of Elizabeth I

Gamini Salgado has also edited Three Restoration Comedies for Penguin Classics. 
 
 
Gamini Salgado has also edited Three Restoration Comedies for Penguin Classics.

Following the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign in the early seventeenth century, the new court of King James was beset by political instability and moral corruption. This atmosphere provided fertile ground for the dramatists of the age, whose plays explore the ways in which social decadence and the abuse of power breed resentment and lead inexorably to violence and bloody retribution. In Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy, the debauched son of an Italian Duke attempts to rape the virtuous Gloriana - a veiled reference to Elizabeth I. Webster's The White Devil depicts a sinister world of intrigue and murderous infidelity, while The Changeling, perhaps Middleton's supreme achievement, powerfully portrays a woman bringing about her own unwitting destruction. All three are masterpieces of brooding intensity, dominated by images of decay, disillusionment and death.

Thomas Middleton

Alan Rickman

John Rowe

Roy Marsden

Joss Ackland

Anna Madeley

Maurice Denham

Peter Bayliss

Dilys Laye

Madi Hedd

Full Cast

6 BBC Radio 4 full-cast productions

A superlative collection of Jacobean comedies and tragedies from 'our other Shakespeare', Thomas Middleton 
 
One of the most prolific playwrights of the Jacobean era, Thomas Middleton achieved great success with his cynically satirical comedies and bloodthirsty tragedies. Considered the only true rival to Shakespeare, Middleton is widely believed to have collaborated with the Bard on several plays, including Timon of Athens. This dazzling collection comprises dramatisations of his most famous works, including his two masterpieces, The Changeling and Women Beware Women. 
 
The Changeling - Betrothed to the nobleman Alonzo de Piracquo, Beatrice-Joanna falls in love with Alsemero and seeks the help of her father's man, De Flores. Anna Madeley and Zubin Varla star in this updated retelling of Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's dark tale of lust, obsession and murder, set in Alicante in the 1920s. 
 
Women Beware Women - When Leantio's beautiful wife Bianca catches the eye of the duke, the worldly Livia arranges an assignation, plunging Bianca into the vice and corruption of the court. Penny Downie and Beth Chalmers star in Thomas Middleton's poetic tragedy where women are the worst betrayers. 
 
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside - Moll Yellowhammer's parents are determined to marry her to the arrogant Sir Walter Whorehound, but her love for the impoverished Touchwood Junior upends their plans... Set in 17th Century London, Middleton's bawdy black comedy depicts a world of sexual hypocrisy and deceit. Starring Sarah Badel, Dilys Laye, Hugh Paddick and Norman Rodway. 
 
A Trick to Catch the Old One - In debt to his greedy uncle Lucre, the spendthrift Witgood devises a cunning scheme to get back his estates and marry his love. Alan Rickman, Maurice Denham and Dilys Laye star in this city comedy about avarice and the power of money. 
 
A Mad World, My Masters - Follywit, kept penniless by his rich grandfather, Sir Bounteous Progress, devises an ingenious plot to get his hands on his inheritance - but will he get a taste of his own medicine? Starring Roy Marsden and James Villiers. 
 
The Honest Whore - In this two-part comedy by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, the prostitute Bellafront falls in love with the courtier Hippolito, but his heart belongs to another. Joss Ackland and Madi Hedd star in this irreverent satire of Jacobean society. 
 
First published 1604 (The Honest Whore Part 1), 1605 (A Trick to Catch the Old One; A Mad World, My Masters), 1613 (A Chaste Maid in Cheapside), 1621 (Women Beware Women), 1622 (The Changeling), 1630 (The Honest Whore Part 2) 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Thomas Middleton 
The Changeling co-written with William Rowley 
The Honest Whore co-written with Thomas Dekker 
 
Contents List 
The Changeling 
Women Beware Women 
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside 
A Trick to Catch the Old One 
A Mad World, My Masters 
The Honest Whore 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Thomas Middleton

Books by Thomas Middleton

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