The Changing Faces of Love In English Renaissance Comedy

Authors

Ejner J. Jensen, University of Michigan

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

In this paper I want to explore certain manifestations of love in English Renaissance comedy, particularly the language of love and the changing function of love as a theme. My path will lead from Lyly to Fletcher ( with and without Beaumont). But this chronological disposition of the material ought not to be taken as a signal that my topic is development. Surely we have had ample warning in recent years of the latent evolutionist tendencies we all share to keep us from that fallacy. My topic is the changing faces of love. The forces that brought about the changes I will describe are varied and complex, and I am little concerned here with influences outside the drama; my focus will be on those aspects of love that the drama reveals on the stage. Chronology will be violated in the case of Shakespeare, for as usual he takes a way of his own; I will return to him in a final section of this discussion.

Recommended Citation

Jensen, Ejner J. (1972) "The Changing Faces of Love In English Renaissance Comedy," Comparative Drama: Vol. 6: Iss. 4, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol6/iss4/3