Fictions of the Poor in Early Modern Theater

FAIN: FA-52475-06

Robert Henke
Washington University (St. Louis, MO 63130-4862)

This project examines representations of poverty and vagrancy in early modern theater, with some attention to non-dramatic writing as well. It concentrates on Italy (five chapters), and addresses English early modern theater at length (three chapters), providing a comparative analysis that focuses on the “fictions” of the poor: both fictions written about the poor (in rogue pamphlets, for example), and the fictions generated by destitute characters within Italian and English plays, pamphlets, and popular poems. Objects of study include Italian vagabond literature, Ruzante, the commedia dell’arte, Lazarillo de Tormes, English rogue pamphlets, Dekker, Middleton, Jonson, and Shakespeare.