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The Woman in the Moon

By John Lyly

By Leah Scragg

The Woman in the Moon
Paperback -
  • Price: £19.99
  • ISBN: 9780719072451
  • Publish Date: Jul 2011
  • Publisher: Manchester University Press
  • Buy Now £19.99

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    Book Information

    • Format: Paperback
    • Pages: 160
    • Price: £19.99
    • Published Date: July 2011
    • Series: The Revels Plays

    Description

    His last known work and the only one to be written primarily in verse, The Woman in the Moon is among Lyly's most entertaining plays. Turning upon the construction of the female character, it has been read as highly misogynistic, and as a sixteenth-century feminist manifesto. The biblical version of the creation of woman is overturned in the first scene when the play's supreme deity, Nature, presents her ultimate creation, Pandora (memorably played in 1928 by Katharine Hepburn), to a group of Utopian shepherds, who compete for her love. Their amatory pursuit is complicated by the seven planets, whose attributes have been bestowed by Nature on her new creation, and who decide to take revenge by subjecting Pandora to their influence. The action rapidly develops into a dazzling comedy of intrigue, resulting in both an explanation for the female disposition and the creation of an 'alternative' version of the myth of the man in the moon.

    Newly edited from the first edition (1597), The Woman in the Moon will be of interest to all students of sixteenth-century drama. It is complemented by generous notes and commentary, as well as a full introduction and stage history.

    Reviews

    This thoroughly annotated volume provides a detailed study of the play's sources.

    Contents

    Introduction
    The text
    Date and authorship
    Sources
    Structure
    Myth and metamorphosis
    Topical application
    The comic underling
    Dramaturgy and staging
    Stage history
    This edition
    Notes
    The woman in the moon

    Author

    Leah Scragg is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.

    The Woman in the Moon

    By Leah Scragg

    Paperback £19.99 / $29.95

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