ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes a common scholarly perception of the market's displacement of patronage. Cecile Jagodzinski can be seen to write in effect for a number of scholars: "The technological advances of the printshop eliminate not only the solitary joys and labors of copying, but its drudgery as well. The book focuses on pageant and masque texts, which are, almost by definition, a rather different kind of dramatic text because they report an actual as well as fictional event. The playwrights' prefaces define the social and political boundaries of these entertainments. The book also presents an important collection of patrons who supported drama of various kinds: women, who had a marginal connection to the theater, not being allowed to perform in public theaters. It addresses to readers by a major playwright, enunciating an emerging accommodation with publication.