Plays On Women Anon, Arden of Faversham; Middleton and Dekker, The Roaring Girl; Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside; Heywood, A Woman Killed with Kindness

Based on the original and authoritative Revels texts, Plays on Women brings together four plays that dramatize the lives of women in Shakespeare’s England. Presenting both domestic tragedy and city comedy, the anthology depicts women as witty tricksters and heart-breaking victims, adulteresses and faithful wives. In each play, the women break out of familiar roles, challenging both theatrical and social convention to offer the pleasures of laughter, pathos and suspense. McLuskie's introduction uses the latest interdisciplinary research to explore the dynamic relationship between women, the theatre and the social world. The annotation unravels the complexities of language and performance that sustain the plays’ stunning theatrical power.