Apes and Monkeys on the Early Modern Stage, 1603-1659

This book is the first full-length study of apes and monkeys on the early modern stage. It broadens the scope of existing scholarship by situating the apes glimpsed in Shakespeare’s plays in the wider context of the many uncelebrated uses by other playwrights, c. 1603-1659. The book investigates the theatrical appearances of real monkeys, actors dressed up as apes, and characters mistaken for them, arguing that the ape trope is so insistent in early modern drama that it becomes a structural metaphor. It addresses both plays and masques across the period, arguing that the ways of seeing in these different kinds of theatre make apes mean differently in their generic contexts. Grounded in historicist readings, this book also draws significantly on the field of ritual studies and the new intersectional discipline of animal performance studies.