Cambridge University Press Problem Fathers in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama

Fathers are central to the drama of Shakespeare's time: they are revered, even sacred, yet they are also flawed human beings who feature as obstacles in plays of all genres. In Problem Fathers in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama, Tom MacFaul examines how fathers are paradoxical and almost anomalous characters on the English Renaissance stage. Starting as figures of confident authority in early Elizabethan drama, their scope for action becomes gradually more restricted, until by late Jacobean drama they have accepted the limitations of their power. MacFaul argues that this process points towards a crisis of patriarchal authority in wider contemporary culture. While Shakespeare's plays provide a key insight into these shifts, this book explores the dramatic culture of the period more widely to present the ways in which Shakespeare's work differed from that of his contemporaries while both sharing and informing their artistic and ideological preoccupations. Review "Macfaul argues convincingly that the presentation of fathers as central figures in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama reflects a cultural crisis of patriarchal authority in England during these periods....Connecting and expanding on problem fathers in early modern drama, this interesting, wide-ranging study is well-researched." --Choice'Because of the range and depth of this study, _Problem Fathers in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama_ is sure to initiate wider critical conversations about the roles of fathers in early modern drama, and it may well prove a seminal text in Renaissance studies'--Journal of British Studies. Book Description This book explores the central role of fathers in the plays of Shakespeare and a wide range of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. About the Author Tom MacFaul is Fellow and Departmental Lecturer in English at Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of Male Friendship in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries (2007), Poetry and Paternity in Renaissance England (2010) and many articles on Renaissance poetry and drama. He is also the co-editor of Tottel's Miscellany (2011) with Amanda Holton.