Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores in detail the importance of technological lexicon in early modern England, explaining the linguistic, cultural and material confluence between the technologies of sealing, coining and typographic printing. It argues that W. Shakespearean drama engages with the language and material culture of three interrelated ‘impressing technologies’—sealing, coining and printing—in order to interrogate the formation and destabilisation of identity and authority. The book concerns the history of criticism and Shakespeare’s perceived impressiveness in various historical periods, including our own, will be addressed throughout. It offers new ways of thinking about the production and reception of language and especially metaphor in Shakespearean drama, both on the stage and the page. The book addresses historical and cultural contexts that will be important throughout, exploring the role of the imprint in early modern ideas about technology, language and physiology.