Costuming the Shakespearean Stage: Visual Codes of Representation in Early Modern Theatre and Culture

Although scholars have long considered the material conditions surrounding the production of early modern drama, until now, no book-length examination has sought to explain what was worn on the period\u27s stages and, more importantly, how articles of apparel were understood when seen by contemporary audiences. Robert Lublin\u27s new study considers royal proclamations, religious writings, paintings, woodcuts, plays, historical accounts, sermons, and legal documents to investigate what Shakespearean actors actually wore in production and what cultural information those costumes conveyed. Four of the chapters of Costuming the Shakespearean Stage address \u27categories of seeing\u27: visually based semiotic systems according to which costumes constructed and conveyed information on the early modern stage. The four categories include gender, social station, nationality, and religion. The fifth chapter examines one play, Thomas Middleton\u27s A Game at Chess, to show how costumes signified across the categories of seeing to establish a play\u27s distinctive semiotics and visual aesthetic