James Shirley Summary

James Shirley dominated the last generation of English Renaissance drama with an industrious fluency unapproached by any other playwright during the reign of Charles I. Others, notably John Ford, wrot... Read more

In the following excerpt, Forsythe enumerates the dominant characteristics of Shirley's works, describing him as a courtly playwright concerned with moral justice. He also notes that Shirley wa... Read more

In the following essay, Orgel interprets Jacobean and Caroline masques as a mirror reflecting the crown as it wanted to be seen. He asserts that for Charles I the masque was an expression of the stren... Read more

In the following essay, McGee discusses the political and financial details of a performance of The Triumph of Peace produced by the City of London, noting that it reflects and illuminates tense relat... Read more

In the following essay, Huebert constructs a version of the original production of The Lady of Pleasure, including blocking, casting, and set design. In doing so, he highlights Shirley's use of... Read more

In the following excerpt, Shirley's early twentieth-century biographer, Arthur Nason describes The Cardinal as a romantic tragedy and one of the playwright's best works, noting especiall... Read more

In the following excerpt, Lucow downplays topical analyses of The Cardinal and instead emphasizes its debt to the revenge-tragedy tradition. Lucow contends that although Shirley considered The Cardina... Read more

In the following excerpt, Yearling emphasizes Shirley's simple style in The Cardinal, but cautions against reading the play as a stripped-down revenge tragedy. Though Yearling discounts a stron... Read more

In the following excerpt, Burner discusses the relationship between theater and audience in the development of new plays, noting that Shirley was among a select coterie of playwrights writing for priv... Read more

In the following review, Billington explores director Barry Kyle's production of Hyde Park at the Swan Theatre as a successful evocation of several literary periods: the Edwardian era of the Bl... Read more

Critical Review by Edwin Wilson Wilson, Edwin. “Shirley and Shakespeare.” The Wall Street Journal (13 July 1987): 20. In the following review, Wilson admires the Swan Theatre produc... Read more

In the following excerpt, Bowers argues that Shirley's works transcend the decadence into which revenge tragedy had fallen in his time. The dramatists of the fourth period of revenge tragedy... Read more

In the following essay, Venuti examines allusions to Charles I's ban prohibiting the gentry from living in London in The Triumph of Peace. Topical allusions can be said to anchor a literary ... Read more

In the following essay, Clark argues that Shirley's plays reinforce aristocratic values. Shirley's Reverence for Degree “I never affected the ways of flattery: some say I have ... Read more

In the essay below, Robins provides an overview of Shirley's life and literary career. There is something piteous and theatrical in the deaths of James and Frances Shirley as they were recor... Read more

In the following excerpt, Forker maintains that The Cardinal shows brilliant plotting and complex manipulation of the conventions of the revenge tragedy, yet fails to resolve the moral and ethical pro... Read more

In the following essay, Morton analyzes Shirley's use of deceptions, tricks, and misunderstandings in his plays to convey conflicts between various social groups in Caroline England. The tem... Read more

In the following essay, Wertheim discusses Shirley's technique of mirroring the amorous competition in the racing and gambling competitions in Hyde Park. I The realistic comedies of James Sh... Read more

In the following essay, Huebert reconstructs the first staging of The Lady of Pleasure. The first performance of The Lady of Pleasure took place in late October or early November, 1635. The play wa... Read more