The Horror Plays of the English Restoration - 9781472415523

Taylor & Francis

Tropes of monstrosity, madness, venereal disease, incest and atheism define a group of macabre plays which burst onto the London stage in the 1670s. Dubbed the \u2019horror\u2019 or the \u2019blood and torture villain tragedies\u2019 by modern critics, these deeply unsettling plays fascinated contemporary audiences. Hermanson's study marks the first comprehensive investigation of the plays, examining them in light of significant changes to theatrical practice as well as the endemic civil conflict of the time. > A decade after the Restoration of Charles II, a disturbing group of tragedies, dubbed by modern critics the horror or the blood-and-torture villain tragedies, burst onto the London stage. Ten years later they were gone - absorbed into the partisan frenzy which enveloped the theatre at the height of the Exclusion Crisis. Despite burgeoning interest, until now there has been no full investigation into why these deeply unsettling plays were written when they were and why they e