The Censorship of Sir Thomas More and the Performability of History
The Censorship of Sir Thomas More and the Performability of History
Author(s): Tianhu HaoSubject(s): History, Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Literary Texts, Cultural history, Drama
Published by: Universitatea de Vest din Timişoara
Keywords: Sir Thomas More; dramatic censorship; Edmund Tilney; Elizabethan England
Summary/Abstract: The manuscript of the history play Sir Thomas More is famous for its inclusion of Shakespeare’s hand. The present essay discusses Edmund Tilney’s censorship of the play. The author investigates the role of the censor in Elizabethan England and the subtle relationship between dramatic censorship and state ideology from the perspective of the performability of history through a comparative study between the historical text and the dramatic text. The censorship of Sir Thomas More indicates that the Master of the Revels was a convenient tool of the theatre as well as a necessary instrument of the state.
Journal: DramArt.Revistă de studii teatrale
- Issue Year: 2016
- Issue No: 5
- Page Range: 129-146
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English