Jacobean Revenge Tragedy and the Politics of Virtue

This book discusses four revenge tragedies that appeared during the years 1610-30 when James's struggles with Parliament over absolute authority made tyranny an inflammatory subject.

Concentrating on the connection between the genre's representation of politics and gender, in particular its pervasive statements of misogyny, the book argues that the differing statements of androgyny made by Elizabeth I and James I, combined with the flexible, unorthodox maleness of the players, produced a genre that challenges the dogmas of both absolutism and patriarchalism.