This book is an invitation to embed Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy in its historical context: a time of change. Dwelling on Raymond William's concept of culture as social process, the author reads a selected number of tragedies as being influenced by the conflicting epistemologies of the fading Middle Ages and a dawning modernity. The final catastrophe in Doctor Faustus, The Spanish Tragedy, King Lear, Sejanus his Fall and The Duchess of Malfi is located in the melting pot of rivalling discourses.

Autorentext
The Author: Nils-Henje Redenius, born in Stadthagen 1975, had spent a year as foreign exchange student in Delaware (USA) before he studied English, Physical Education and Educational Science at the Universities of Marburg and Duisburg-Essen. During his studies, he completed an internship at Ballyfermot Senior College, Dublin. After finishing his studies in 2002, he taught literature at the University of Duisburg-Essen. In 2004 he started a teacher-training at Otto-Pankok School in Mülheim.

Inhalt
Contents: Five Elizabethan Tragedies on the Threshold of Modernity: Transgression in Damnation: Doctor Faustus Challenging the Order from within: The Spanish Tragedy The Decline of Society: King Lear The Exposure of a Moral and Political Paragon: Sejanus his Fall Double Tragedy in an Empty World: The Duchess of Malfi.