ABSTRACT
Any sustained defence of the popular stage was slow in coming. In 1577 'T.W.' had begun the attack with his sermon, and Northbrooke published his condemnation. Stockwood gave his sermon in 1578, Gosson published his first attack in 1579, and 'Anglo-phile Eutheo' followed in 1580. When Gosson published his Plays Confuted in Five Actions in 1582, although Stubbes and Babington were not to publish until the following year, the bulk of this particular broadside had already been fired, with, according to Gosson, scarcely a reply.
