The Will in English Renaissance Drama

Douglas Clark reveals how wills – in their philosophical and legal sense – profoundly shaped English Renaissance life and drama.

Douglas Clark (Author)

9781009390941, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 September 2025

208 pages
23.5 x 16 x 1.6 cm, 0.45 kg

'Clark deftly explores the intertwined meanings of the will in early modern England, as a moral faculty and a legal document expressing that faculty. This expansive study offers vital insights not only into dramatic practice but also early modern notions of liberty, desire, social and familial hierarchy, and the regulation of the self.' Stephanie Elsky, Associate Professor of English, Rhodes College

Douglas Clark reveals how moments of willing and will-making pervade English Renaissance drama and play a crucial role in the depiction of selfhood, sin, sociality, and succession. This wide-ranging study synthesizes concepts from historical, legal, philosophical, and theological studies to examine the dramatic performance of the will as both an internal faculty and a legal document. Clark establishes the diverse connections that Shakespeare, Jonson, Middleton, and a range of overlooked playwrights of the early Elizabethan era made between different types and understandings of the will. By doing so, he reveals the little-understood ethical issues to which they gave rise in relation to the mind, emotions, and soul. Understanding the purpose of the will in its multiple forms was a central concern for writers of the time, and Clark shows how this concern profoundly shaped the depiction of life and death in both Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. This title is part of the Flip It Open programme and may also be available as open access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Introduction: where there is a will
1. The personified will
2. Punishing the transgressive will
3. Testamentary drama
4. Last wills and remembrance
Conclusion: no end?
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]