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Bruster and Weimann examine the prologue’s theatrical existence in performance and print, arguing that it functions as a threshold practice that ushers spectators and actors through a cultural rite of passage. Through close readings of prologues by Shakespeare and contemporaries, it reveals how prologues negotiate between the staged counterfeit world and the actual Elizabethan event, enriching understanding of early modern drama’s sociocultural context and modes of address.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/prologues-to-shakespeares-theatre-performance-and-liminality-in-early-modern-drama/329256/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/prologues-to-shakespeares-theatre-performance-and-liminality-in-early-modern-drama/329256.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Skyler","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the book argue about the function of the early modern prologue?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It argues that prologues occupy a crucial threshold position, moving spectators and actors through a rite of passage while negotiating between the real theatrical event and the “counterfeit” world on stage.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do the authors approach studying prologues?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They use close readings of prologues in both performed and printed contexts, extending analysis beyond ideas of stability and autonomy in beginnings.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which authors’ prologues are examined in the study?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The book discusses prologues by Shakespeare and contemporaries including Marlowe, Peele, and Lyly, as well as Shakespeare himself in later chapters.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},329256,1790015931,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336464648746,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Prologues to Shakespeare’s Theatre  \nThis is a clear, authoritative account that expands our understanding of the changing figure of the prologue in a range of Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean plays; Weimann and Bruster examine thoroughly, and incisively, the theatrical existence of the prologue, and situate it within the wider context of early modern theatre practice.  \nJohn Drakakis, University of Stirling  \nThis eye-opening study draws attention to the largely neglected form of the early modern prologue. Reading the prologue in performed as well as printed contexts, Douglas Bruster and Robert Weimann take us beyond concepts of stability and autonomy in dramatic beginnings to reveal the crucial cultural functions performed by the prologue in Elizabethan England.  \nWhile its most basic task is to seize the attention of a noisy audience, the prologue’s more significant threshold position is used to usher spectators and actors through a rite of passage. Engaging competing claims, expectations and offerings, the prologue introduces, authorizes and, critically, straddles the worlds of the actual theatrical event and the ‘counterfeit’ world on stage. In this way, prologues occupy a unique and powerful position between two orders of cultural practice and perception.  \nClose readings of prologues by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, including Marlowe, Peele and Lyly, demonstrate the prologue’s role in representing both the world in the play and playing in the world. Through their detailed examination of this remarkable form and its functions, the authors provide a fascinating perspective on early modern drama, a perspective that enriches our knowledge of the plays’ sociocultural context and their mode of theatrical address and action.  \nDouglas Bruster is Associate Professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Robert Weimann is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Drama, The University of California at Irvine, USA.  \nPrologues to Shakespeare’s Theatre  \nPerformance and liminality in early modern drama  \nDouglas Bruster and Robert Weimann  \nLONDON AND NEW YORK  \nFirst published 2004  \nby Routledge  \n2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge  \n270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016  \nRoutledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group  \nThis edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.  \nTo purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to [www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk](www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk).  \n© 2004 Robert Weimann and Douglas Bruster  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.  \nBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication Data  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Weimann, Robert.  \nPrologues to Shakespeare’s theatre: performance and liminality in early modern drama/Robert Weimann and Douglas Bruster.  \n[p. cm](p. cm).  \n1. English drama—Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500–1600—History and criticism. 2. English drama—17th century—History and criticism. 3. Prologues and epilogues—History and criticism.  \n4. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Technique. 5 Mimesis in literature.  \n6. Drama—Technique. 7. Openings (Rhetoric) I. Bruster, Douglas. II. Title.  \nPR658 .P68W45 2004  \n822.3′3–dc22 2004007537 ISBN 0-203-36268-3 Master e-book ISBN  \nISBN 0-415-33442-X (hbk)  \nISBN 0-415-33443-8 (pbk)  \nContents  \nPreface vii  \nA note on texts xii  \n1 The Elizabethan prologue: text, actor, performance 1  \n2 Prologue as threshold and usher 27  \n3 Authority and authorization in the pre-Shakespearean prologue 48  \n4 F","cbCaiceN7eSARRKg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiceN7eSARRKg","pdf",1277733,185,"English","# Preface\n## A note on texts\n# The Elizabethan prologue: text, actor, performance\n# Prologue as threshold and usher\n# Authority and authorization in the pre-Shakespearean prologue\n# Frivolous jestures versus matter of worth\n# Kingly harp and iron pen in the playhouse\n# From hodge-podge to scene individable\n# Henry Vand the signs of power\n# Afterword\n# Notes\n# Index","[{\"question\":\"What does the book argue about the function of the early modern prologue?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that prologues occupy a crucial threshold position, moving spectators and actors through a rite of passage while negotiating between the real theatrical event and the “counterfeit” world on stage.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the authors approach studying prologues?\",\"answer\":\"They use close readings of prologues in both performed and printed contexts, extending analysis beyond ideas of stability and autonomy in beginnings.\"},{\"question\":\"Which authors’ prologues are examined in the study?\",\"answer\":\"The book discusses prologues by Shakespeare and contemporaries including Marlowe, Peele, and Lyly, as well as Shakespeare himself in later chapters.\"}]","Prologues to Shakespeare’s Theatre - Performance and liminality in early modern drama | PDF",1789983315,285]