Countering anti-theatricality: Davenant and the drama of the protectorate

Clare, Janet

Abstract

This article begins with a discussion of the parliamentary-Puritan opposition to theatre during the Civil Wars and after the regicide. It then turns to the restoration of the monarchy in 1653, and the efforts of Richard Flecknoe and William Davenant initiate a theatrical revival. They petitioned the Council of State and offered arguments to counter entrenched anti-theatricality. For instance, in A Proposition for the Advancement of Morality by a New Way of Entertainment of the People, presented to the Council of State in 1653, Davenant argued for the moral and socially educative advantages for the lower classes of a reformed stage, charged with ‘instructive morality’.

Citation

Clare, J. (2012). Countering anti-theatricality: Davenant and the drama of the protectorate. In The Oxford handbook of literature and the English Revolution (498 - 515). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199560608.013.0027

• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2013
• Publication Date: Nov 29, 2012
• Pages: 498 - 515
• Book Title: The Oxford handbook of literature and the English Revolution
• ISBN: 978-0-19956-060-8
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199560608.013.0027
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/429232
• Contract Date: Nov 29, 2012