Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama

Mirrors in the early modern playhouse function as figures of theatricality, reflecting gender dynamics and challenging sovereign power, in this open-access study of their use as stage props and rhetorical devices in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Combining approaches from literary stud...

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Huvudupphov: Finger, Valentina
Materialtyp: Online
Språk:engelska
Utgiven: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) 2026
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Länkar:ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350535015_2
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author Finger, Valentina
author_browse Finger, Valentina
author_facet Finger, Valentina
author_sort Finger, Valentina
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Mirrors in the early modern playhouse function as figures of theatricality, reflecting gender dynamics and challenging sovereign power, in this open-access study of their use as stage props and rhetorical devices in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Combining approaches from literary studies and performance studies with extensive research into material history, Valentina Finger highlights the rich complexity of mirrors and acts of mirroring on the early modern stage. The case studies in this book traverse myths of monarchs and imperial mirrors in Richard II and Macbeth , explore acts of exemplary self-government and court politics in Edward I and Bussy D'Ambois , constitute cosmetic mirrors as canvases for feminine self-authorship in The Duchess of Malfi and The Devil's Charter and illuminate the interplay of scientific knowledge, magic and trick glasses in The Alchemist and A Game at Chess . Within this range of Shakespearean drama and lesser-studied plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries, each chapter examines political and literary history, material and visual culture, as well as gender and power dynamics. Focusing on the roles of mirrors as props and tropes in the early modern playhouse, this book contributes to our understanding of broader cultural, social and religious norms as they were debated in England around 1600. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com Open access was funded by the SFB 1369 Vigilanzkulturen (CRC 1369 Cultures of Vigilance) at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich with resources provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation).
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1759572026-04-20T09:26:07Z Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama Finger, Valentina Mirrors Stage Props Material Culture Early Modern Drama Gender and Theatre Sovereign Power Kingship Magic and Theatre Early Modern Theatricality Performance Studies Literary Studies thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC2 Material culture thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSG Literary studies: plays and playwrights thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBD Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800 thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history Mirrors in the early modern playhouse function as figures of theatricality, reflecting gender dynamics and challenging sovereign power, in this open-access study of their use as stage props and rhetorical devices in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Combining approaches from literary studies and performance studies with extensive research into material history, Valentina Finger highlights the rich complexity of mirrors and acts of mirroring on the early modern stage. The case studies in this book traverse myths of monarchs and imperial mirrors in Richard II and Macbeth , explore acts of exemplary self-government and court politics in Edward I and Bussy D'Ambois , constitute cosmetic mirrors as canvases for feminine self-authorship in The Duchess of Malfi and The Devil's Charter and illuminate the interplay of scientific knowledge, magic and trick glasses in The Alchemist and A Game at Chess . Within this range of Shakespearean drama and lesser-studied plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries, each chapter examines political and literary history, material and visual culture, as well as gender and power dynamics. Focusing on the roles of mirrors as props and tropes in the early modern playhouse, this book contributes to our understanding of broader cultural, social and religious norms as they were debated in England around 1600. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com Open access was funded by the SFB 1369 Vigilanzkulturen (CRC 1369 Cultures of Vigilance) at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich with resources provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). 2026-04-20T09:26:06Z 2026-04-20T09:26:06Z 2026-04-16T08:59:45Z 2026 book ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350535015_2 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/112257 9781350535015 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/175957 eng Arden Studies in Early Modern Drama open access Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Arden Shakespeare b7fec79e-c133-4cb3-9544-88060a4d4e06 9781350535015 The Arden Shakespeare 264 London open access
spellingShingle Mirrors
Stage Props
Material Culture
Early Modern Drama
Gender and Theatre
Sovereign Power
Kingship
Magic and Theatre
Early Modern Theatricality
Performance Studies
Literary Studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC2 Material culture
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSG Literary studies: plays and playwrights
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBD Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800
thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
Finger, Valentina
Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title_full Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title_fullStr Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title_full_unstemmed Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title_short Mirrors in Shakespeare and Early Modern English Drama
title_sort mirrors in shakespeare and early modern english drama
topic Mirrors
Stage Props
Material Culture
Early Modern Drama
Gender and Theatre
Sovereign Power
Kingship
Magic and Theatre
Early Modern Theatricality
Performance Studies
Literary Studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC2 Material culture
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSG Literary studies: plays and playwrights
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBD Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800
thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
topic_facet Mirrors
Stage Props
Material Culture
Early Modern Drama
Gender and Theatre
Sovereign Power
Kingship
Magic and Theatre
Early Modern Theatricality
Performance Studies
Literary Studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC2 Material culture
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSG Literary studies: plays and playwrights
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBD Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800
thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
url ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350535015_2
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