Introduction. Timeline. The Set-Up. The Moment. Irreligious Drama. Courtiers and Capitalists. Actors and Writers. The Stage. Background Voices. Allegory. Ceremony. Drama. Festivity. History. Love. Medicine. Rhetoric. Romance. Satire. The Writers. Francis Beaumont (1584/5-1616). Richard Brome (c. 1590-1652). George Chapman (1559-1634). Thomas Dekker (c. 1572-1632). John Fletcher (1579-1625). John Ford (1586-?1650). Robert Greene (1558-1592). Thomas Heywood (c. 1573-1641). Ben Jonson (1572-1637). Thomas Kyd (1558-1594). Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). John Marston (1576-1634). Philip Massinger (1583-1640). Thomas Middleton (1580-1627). Anthony Munday (1560-1633). George Peele (1556-1596). William Rowley (d. 1626). William Shakespeare (1564-1616). James Shirley (1596-1666). Cyril Tourneur (d. 1626). John Webster (c. 1579-c. 1630). Key Plays. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy. Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus. William Shakespeare, Richard II . Ben Jonson, Every Man In His Humour . Thomas Dekker, The Shoemakers' Holiday . William Shakespeare, Hamlet. John Marston, The Dutch Courtesan. William Shakespeare, King Lear. The Revenger's Tragedy . Ben Jonson, Volpone, or, The Fox . Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy. Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl. William Shakespeare, The Tempest . Thomas Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair. John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi. Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling. Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor . Thomas Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West. John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Richard Brome, A Jovial Crew. Actions That A Man Might Play. Attending. Being a Woman. Conjuring. Cuckolding. Dressing Up. Feigning. Flattering. Going Mad. Inheriting. Plotting. Rising from the Dead. Seducing. Swaggering. Bibliography. Index