[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-319469-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-319469-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","english-drama-1586-1642-the-age-of-shakespeare","English Drama 1586-1642 - The Age of Shakespeare","","English Drama 1586-1642: The Age of Shakespeare outlines an Oxford History of English Literature volume covering the period from 1586 to 1642. The preface explains editorial challenges in writing a historical account of the Elizabethan stage, noting how facts and institutions connect across many directions. It describes the author’s approach to balancing plays as art and entertainment, using plural historical perspectives, modernized quotations, and carefully defined period terminology. It also records scholarly support and research resources that enabled the project.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/english-drama-1586-1642-the-age-of-shakespeare/319469/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/english-drama-1586-1642-the-age-of-shakespeare/319469.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"River Wang","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What main period does the book cover according to the preface?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It covers English drama from 1586 to 1642.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What editorial difficulty does the preface highlight for historians of the Elizabethan stage?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Avoiding a general history of the stage while treating the field as historical, since facts connect broadly and investigation generates more questions.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the author say plays are treated in relation to history?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Plays are used to delineate what Shakespeare shared with the movement, and the book focuses on their functions as art and entertainment rather than extracting philosophical or political statements from history alone.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},319469,1790001223,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1099514067438,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542","ENGLISH DRAMA 1586-1642 THE AGE OF SHAKESPEARE  \nG. K. HUNTER  \nCLARENDON PRESS ∣ OXFORD  \n1997  \n-iii-  \nOxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP  \nOxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Dares Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan  \nOxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press  \nPublished in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 1997  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above  \nBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-812213- 6 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2  \nTypeset by Graphicraft Typesetters Ltd., Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by Bookcraft Ltd., Midsomer Norton, Somerset  \n-iv-  \nTO SHELAGH  \n-v-  \nLEWIS. I'm working on 'English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama', for OHEL. JOY. Oh hell? LEWIS. The Oxford History of English Literature. JOY. Sixteenth century. You got the easy one. LEWIS. You think so? William Nicholson, Shadowlands ( 1989) Act I, pp. 32-3  \nOf the difficulties that lie in the way of an editor [of Elizabethan dramatic records] --at least if he regards his work as historical rather than romantic--not the least is to avoid writing a general history of the Elizabethan stage. There is no such thing as a clearly defined historical field; facts are linked to other facts in all directions, and investigation merely leads to further and further questions. Every custom and every institution at once rises the problem of its own origin; every corporation and every social fact is influenced by other corporations or reacts on other social facts. Thus to treat intelligibly any of the several dramatic companies at the end of the [sixteenth] century, or any series of events in the dramatic history of the time demands a knowledge of the constitution of other companies and of the sequence of other events such as at present can hardly be said to exist. W. W. Greg, Preface to Henslowe's Diary, Part II ( 1908)  \n-vi-  \nPreface  \nTHIS present volume completes the Oxford History of English Literature Series, the earliest volumes of which were published in 1945. The space of time between the first volume and the last has seen a revolution (or even a series of revolutions) in the notion of what literary history is or should be about (if it is allowed that it should exist at all), so that it may be in order (without engaging in a retrospective survey) to give some explanation how the present volume relates to a context that could not have been envisaged by the originators.  \nThe first author designated for this volume was Professor F. P. Wilson .  \nWhen Wilsondied in 1963, I was asked if I would see through the press the interconnected chapters he had written (which I did) and then if I would consider carrying on the project from 1586 to 1642. The latter I declined todo. Some twenty years later the Press asked me to reconsider my decision, and this led me to wonder if the contradictions between history and literature (as I had seen it) could be understood as a challenge rather than an impasse. I believed","cbCaiob9PCffTbMc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiob9PCffTbMc","pdf",5498902,1227,"English","# Preface\n# Acknowledgements","[{\"question\":\"What main period does the book cover according to the preface?\",\"answer\":\"It covers English drama from 1586 to 1642.\"},{\"question\":\"What editorial difficulty does the preface highlight for historians of the Elizabethan stage?\",\"answer\":\"Avoiding a general history of the stage while treating the field as historical, since facts connect broadly and investigation generates more questions.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author say plays are treated in relation to history?\",\"answer\":\"Plays are used to delineate what Shakespeare shared with the movement, and the book focuses on their functions as art and entertainment rather than extracting philosophical or political statements from history alone.\"}]","English Drama 1586-1642 - The Age of Shakespeare | PDF",1789944196,1890]