The Motif of Adultery in Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline Tragedy

This study is an examination of audience reaction to adultery depicted on the stage, up to the closing of the theatres in 1642 following the outbreak of the Civil War.

All tragedies containing the adultery motif are examined, including John Webster's "The White Devil" and William Rowley's "The Changeling".

This study also scrutinizes the lesser-known Caroline plays.