This text is part of the New Mermaid series of modern spelling, fully-annotated editions of English plays. Each volume includes a critical introduction, biography of the author, discussions of dates and sources, textual details, a bibliography and information about the staging of the play.
Thomas Middleton (1570-1627) was an English dramatist, who excelled in both comedy and tragedy. Whilst his so-called 'city comedies' provide insight into 17th-century London life and manners, his tragedies are noted for their richly poetic verse, their emphasis on guilt and corruption, and their understanding of feminine psychology. He often worked in collaboration with other dramatists for the theatre owner Philip Henslowe, including Thomas Dekker and William Rowley. Middleton's works include A Trick to Catch the Old One (1604-05), A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1619), the tragedy Women Beware Women (1621) and the political satire A Game of Chess (1624).
Thomas Middleton's Jacobean drama spreads like a web around the the
black- widow figure of Livia... it is clear that Livia's
deviousness is a profoundly cynical response to the hipocrisy of a
society in which women are powerless and men do as they
please.'
*Sarah Hemming, Financial Times, 29.04.10*
'Thomas Middleton's 17th- century study of self- survival and the
destruction of innocence'
*Clare Allfree, Metro (London), 29.04.10*
'A sardonic masterwork that admits one to the world of fuliginous
cruelty.'
*Michael Billington, Guardian, 29.04.10*
'Dark, decadent and immensely stylish, Women Beware Women makes you
laugh even as you shiver.'
*Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 29.04.10*
'A fiercely felt, finely wrought, seldom-seen play by one of
Shakespeare's contemporaries.'
*Susannah Clapp, Obcerver, 02.05.10*
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