Review by Choice Review
Long before trashy talk shows, incest was a favorite literary theme; it is, as Shelley noted, "like many other incorrect things, a very poetical circumstance." English dramatists were particularly devoted to incest in the century and a half smartly surveyed by Richard McCabe (Oxford University). This very welcome book opens with some background materials: legal definitions and anthropological theories (ancient to modern) of incest; and literary texts of ancient drama, medieval narrative, and French and Italian Renaissance tragedy. McCabe perhaps overstates the contrast between the allegedly dogmatic plays of the Elizabethan period and the more skeptical works produced by what he calls the nominalist crisis of thought in the 17th century. The book's strength lies not in its overall developmental thesis of growing secularization; rather, one will read McCabe for his many incisive remarks on particular plays, especially Hamlet, The Revenger's Tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Telling juxtapositions between Renaissance plays and classical and Biblical models abound; McCabe has the learning and the critical aplomb to benefit both novice and veteran play readers. Fully annotated. Highly recommended for academic collections. E. D. Hill; Mount Holyoke College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
