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Vagabonds, Players and Shakespeare
Author(s) -
Nesvet Rebecca
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2004.00080.x
Subject(s) - drama , parallels , performative utterance , scholarship , hamlet (protein complex) , context (archaeology) , representation (politics) , vagrancy , history , aesthetics , literature , art , mechanical engineering , archaeology , politics , political science , law , engineering
In Hamlet and other plays, Shakespeare explores the condition of vagrancy, often continuing the truism, widely accepted in his society, that this condition is inextricably associated with the playing profession. Shakespeare's fascination with his culture's performative vagabonds and itinerant players has survived to the present day, as a vibrant critical trend and some recent stage interpretations of Shakespearean drama demonstrate. This article will provide a brief survey of recent scholarship on the nature and representation of early modern vagabonds and their presumed parallels with players, and an introduction to Shakespeare's construction of several vagabond characters in light of this significant cultural context.