The Roaring Girl (Norton Critical Editions)

MiddletonandDekker’scomictriumphisasrelevanttodayaswhenitwasfirstperformedin1611.Withitshelpfulannotations,historicaldocumentsoncrossdressingandonthecolorfulMaryFrith(thereal-lifemodelforMollCutpurse),andwealthofscholarlyinterpretations,thisNortonCriticalEditionbringsTheRoaringGirltolifefortoday’sreader.ThisNortonCriticalEditionofThomasMiddletonandThomasDekker’sTheRoaringGirlisbasedonthetextfromEnglishRenaissanceDrama:ANortonAnthology.Itisaccompaniedbygenerousexplanatoryannotations,fiveillustrations,andadetailedintroduction.“Contexts”isthematicallyarrangedtoincludealmostallknowndocumentsfromtheperiodconcerningMaryFrith(akaMollCutpurse),amongthemrecordsofhercourtappearances,lettersrecountingthesame,andherlastwill.Alsoreprintedaresignificantpassagesfromherpurported1662“autobiography,”TheLifeandDeathofMrs.MaryFrith.Whileofdubiousveracity,the“autobiography”isusefulforcomparingtheplay’sportrayalofMollwithlaterdevelopmentsinMollCutpurselore,whichtheNortonCriticalEditiontracesthroughtheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies.Perhapsmostengagingforclassroomdiscussionaresubstantialexcerptsfromthe1620cross-dressingpamphlets―HicMulier;or,TheMan-WomanandHaecVir;or,TheWomanishMan―whichappearinannotated,modern-spellingversions.Togethertheygiveinsightintohowgender-bendingtrendsinclothing,similartothosepracticedbyMoll,wereunderstoodintheearlyseventeenthcentury.ArelatedpassagefromASermonofAppareladdsanotherperspectiveoncross-dressingpractices.FourteencriticalessayschartthedevelopmentofscholarlyinterestinTheRoaringGirl,fromthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,whentheplayreceivedonlypassingreference,throughtheworkoncitycomedyinthe1970sand1980s,totheexplosionofanalysesinthelate1980sand1990s,whentheplaybecameamajorfocusforearlymoderngenderstudies.Themorerecentcriticalessaysmovebeyondastrictfocusongenderandcross-dressingtoexploreTheRoaringGirl’sdepictionofotheraspectsofearlymodernLondon,includingconsumercultureandthecontemporaryfascinationwiththelanguageofthecriminalunderworld.Contributorsinclude,amongothers,T.S.Eliot,AlexanderLeggatt,MaryBethRose,JonathanDollimore,JeanE.Howard,andJonathanGilHarris.ASelectedBibliographyisalsoincluded.