A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

by Thomas Middleton

Book Overview

Written for the adult players at the open-air Swan theatre in 1613,
this master-piece of Jacobean city comedy signals its ironic nature
even in the title: chaste maids, like most other goods and people in
London's busiest commercial area, are likely to be fake. Money is more
important than either happiness or honour; and the most coveted
commodities to be bought with it are sex and social prestige. Middleton
interweaves the fortunes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0713650680
• ISBN13: 9780713650686
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.9" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

makes you wonder about nature vs nurture

This work of Thomas Middleton wonder about the nature vs nurture issue. Are we preprogrammed to be who we are or does our upbringing shape who we are? In this play, we are given several examples of love and marriage and how these things can be corrupted. What Middleton asks is: Are marriage and love corrupted by people themselves or is it a corrupted institution from the start? He also pays close attention to the value of money and commodities. Marriage was a money-making venture during the Renaissance and in some places, it still is. You have to keep asking yourself while reading this play if, in Middleton's society, true love is possible and, if so, how can it or will it eventually overcome a society based on material possessions and monetary value?