Black Joan: Difference between revisions

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<blockquote>Item, j frame for the heading [i.e. beheading] in Black Jone.</blockquote><br>  
<blockquote>Item, j frame for the heading [i.e. beheading] in Black Jone.</blockquote><br>  


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Greg, [http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowepapersbe00hensuoft#page/120/mode/2up Papers, 121]:<br>  
Greg, [http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowepapersbe00hensuoft#page/120/mode/2up Papers, 121]:<br>  
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<blockquote>Black Jonne.</blockquote><br>  
<blockquote>Black Jonne.</blockquote><br>  


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== Theatrical Provenance  ==
== Theatrical Provenance  ==
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<blockquote>Earlier in the same year [1597] Henslowe notes a performance of "The Witch of Islington." By the next year had been written "Black Joan." The former was either an out-and-out witch play, or else such a play with political bearings. The latter, in all probability, was a witch play also. If we may judge from the titles and the growing realism of dramatic treatment, they were of a kind far closer to actual life than those hitherto considered. (478)</blockquote><br>  
<blockquote>Earlier in the same year [1597] Henslowe notes a performance of "The Witch of Islington." By the next year had been written "Black Joan." The former was either an out-and-out witch play, or else such a play with political bearings. The latter, in all probability, was a witch play also. If we may judge from the titles and the growing realism of dramatic treatment, they were of a kind far closer to actual life than those hitherto considered. (478)</blockquote><br>  


<br>


Purkiss supports Herrington's suggestion of a mini-vogue for witch plays at this time and speculates that the play may have influenced Shakespeare's Joan la Pucelle in ''1 Henry VI'' (197 n.28)<br>  
Purkiss supports Herrington's suggestion of a mini-vogue for witch plays at this time and speculates that the play may have influenced Shakespeare's Joan la Pucelle in ''1 Henry VI'' (197 n.28)<br>  

Revision as of 11:13, 13 May 2011

Playwright's Name(1598?)


Historical Records

Henslowe Papers

Greg, Papers, 118:

Under Henslowe's title, "The Enventary tacken of all the properties for my Lord Admeralles men, the 10 of Marche 1598" is:

Item, j frame for the heading [i.e. beheading] in Black Jone.



Greg, Papers, 121:

Under Henslowe's title, "A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3d of March 1598" is:

Black Jonne.



Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral’s Company.


Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy (?) (Harbage, 64-5).


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

<Enter any information about possible or known sources. Summarise these sources where practical/possible, or provide an excerpt from another scholar's discussion of the subject if available.>


References to the Play

<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>


Critical Commentary

H. W. Herrington posits a “dramatic vogue” for witchcraft plays in the late 1590s (478), and, after discussing Mother Redcap, writes:

Earlier in the same year [1597] Henslowe notes a performance of "The Witch of Islington." By the next year had been written "Black Joan." The former was either an out-and-out witch play, or else such a play with political bearings. The latter, in all probability, was a witch play also. If we may judge from the titles and the growing realism of dramatic treatment, they were of a kind far closer to actual life than those hitherto considered. (478)



Purkiss supports Herrington's suggestion of a mini-vogue for witch plays at this time and speculates that the play may have influenced Shakespeare's Joan la Pucelle in 1 Henry VI (197 n.28)


For What It's Worth

<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>


Works Cited

Herrington, H. W. “Witchcraft and Magic in the Elizabethan Drama”. The Journal of American Folklore 32.126 (1919): 447–85. Print. Web.

Purkiss, D. The Witch in History. London & New York: Routledge, 199c. Print. Web (Google Books).


Site created and maintained by Simon Davies, University of Sussex; updated 13 May 2011.