Constructing Monsters in Shakespeare's Drama and Early Modern Culture

Mark Thornton Burnett is author of "Masters and Servants in English Renaissance Drama and Culture: Authority and Obedience", editor of "Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays" and "Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Poems".

Constructing 'Monsters' in Shakespearean Drama and Early Modern Culture argues for the crucial place of the 'monster' in the early modern imagination.Constructing 'Monsters' in Shakespearean Drama and Early Modern Culture argues for the crucial place of the 'monster' in the early modern imagination. Burnett traces the metaphorical significance of 'monstrous' forms across a range of early modern exhibition spaces - fairground displays, 'cabinets of curiosity' and court entertainments - to contend that the 'monster' finds its most intriguing manifestation in the investments and practices of contemporary theatre. The study's new readings of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson make a powerful case for the drama's contribution to debates about the 'extraordinary body'.