The Changeling: Revised Edition

(Paperback, 4th edition)

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The next good mood I find my father in, Ill get him quite discarded With these chillingly offhand words, Beatrice-Joanna, the spoilt daughter of a powerful nobleman, plots to get rid of the family servant who has crossed her once too often. The Changelings vivid tale of sexual appetite, repulsion, betrayal and lunacy remains one of the most compelling tragedies of the 17th century. Exposing the vexed relationship between servants and masters, setting notions of `change against the revelation of psychological secrets as ways of explaining human behaviour, and exploring the idea of love as a `tame madness, the play reveals the terrifying consequences of ungoverned sexual appetite and betrayal. Featuring the full and modernized play text, this revised edition includes incisive commentary notes which explain the nuances of the plays vibrant, colloquial language and demonstrate its sly delight in the characters conscious and unconscious wordplay. Michael Neills illuminating introduction provides a firm grounding in the plays socio-political context, demonstrates how careful close-reading can expand your enjoyment of the play, explains the plays violent linkage of comic and tragic plots and gives theatrical life to the text via a discussion of its stage history, with a particular emphasis on the most interesting recent productions. The New Mermaids plays offer: Modernized versions of the play text edited to the highest textual standards Fully annotated student editions with obscure words explained and critical, contextual and staging insight provided on each page Full Introductions analyzing context, themes, author background and stage history

Author Bio

Michael Neill is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Auckland. He is the author of Issues of Death (1997) and Putting History to the Question (2000). He has edited Anthony and Cleopatra (1994) and Othello (2006) for the Oxford Shakespeare, Middleton and Rowleys The Changeling (2006) for New Mermaids, Massingers The Renegado (2010) for Arden Early Modern Drama, and Kyds The Spanish Tragedy (2013) for Norton Critical editions. He is currently preparing Websters The Duchess of Malfi for Norton, and co-editing The Oxford Handbook to Shakespearean Tragedy (with David Schalkwyk).