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A Trick to Catch the Old One

By Thomas Middleton
3.56 goodreads logo

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( 55 ratings, 13 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Trick to Catch the Old One is a historically rich play first performed in 1607, exploring the complex ironies surrounding the status of women, marriage, and the social dynamics of the marriage market in early 17th-century society. The text reveals layers addressing prostitution, vice, and the interplay of these themes through its characters, notably the Courtesan, within a sharply ironic framework.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$14600

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This edition will appeal to scholars, students, and enthusiasts of early modern drama and cultural history, particularly those interested in textual analysis and historical staging practices.

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First single edition of one of Thomas Middleton's most popular plays; for all students and academics of early modern drama and Renaissance literature

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This edition presents a thoroughly reconsidered text based on collation of all known copies of the 1608 quarto, including material unnoticed by earlier editors. Textual analysis draws on detailed internal investigation and the printer's wider practice to propose that relatively improvisational procedures and a paper quota governed A Trick to Catch the Old One's printing operations.

Discovery of an overlooked record revises the date of court performance to 1 January 1607, with implications for the play's early history. Critical discussion freshly examines the play's multi-layered ironic texture in relation to issues such as the status of women, marriage's relation to prostitution and vice versa, and the contemporary marriage market. The Courtesan receives special attention in the context of this overarching ironic scheme.

An extensive stage history explores original staging and documents revivals up to 2011. The commentary is the most wide-ranging and comprehensive of all modern editions.

Series: The Revels Plays

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  • A Trick to Catch the Old One
    This edition presents a thoroughly reconsidered text based on collation of all known copies of the 1608 quarto, including material unnoticed by earlier editors. Textual analysis draws on detailed internal investigation and the printer's wider practice to propose that relatively improvisational procedures and a paper quota governed A Trick to Catch the Old One's printing operations. Discovery of an overlooked...
    Paperback
    $14600
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • A Game at Chess
    For many years Middleton's A Game at Chess was more notorious than read, considered rather a phenomenon of theatrical history than a pre-eminent piece of dramatic writing. A Game at Chess was a nine days' wonder, an exceptional play of King James' reign on account of its unprecedented representation of matters of state usually forbidden on the stage. The King's...
    Paperback
    $7100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Magnetic Lady
    This is the new paperback edition of the first fully annotated volume of Ben Jonson's The Magnetic Lady, written in 1632. It contains textual and explanatory notes, and the text is modernised for student use. The introduction places the play in the context of Jonson's later dramatic and poetic works and discusses the political context of the Caroline court. A...
    Paperback
    $10200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Roman Actor
    Philip Massinger's tragedy The Roman Actor was first performed in 1626, as King James I's reign came to an end and his son Charles I acceded to the throne. Three years later, when the play was published, relations between the king and many in parliament and the country had worsened. The Roman Actor—until recently neglected in the theatre but regarded...
    Paperback
    $10200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Troublesome Reign of John, King of England
    Forker's critical edition fills the need for a fully annotated, historically contextualised and modernised text of the most important Elizabethan chronicle play apart from Shakespeare and Marlowe's Edward II. Now attributed definitely to George Peele, this drama helped to establish a major theatrical genre, raising contemporary political and religious issues through the dramatisation of medieval history in a compelling and...
    Paperback
    $10100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Goran Stanivukovic of Saint Mary’s University praises this edition's groundbreaking textual scholarship, emphasizing its detailed evidence and fresh findings that enhance understanding of the play's complex history and enduring significance.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781526116932

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 18 May 2017

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Manchester University Press

Illustration: 2 black & white illustrations

Contributors:

  • Edited by Paul Mulholland

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 413g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Paul Mulholland is a professor of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph

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