The Roaring Girl, a collaboration between playwrights Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) and Thomas Dekker (1572-1632), was likely first performed at the Fortune Theatre in late spring 1611, and was subsequently entered into the Stationers’ Register and printed as a quarto in early 1612. Consumed with issues of gender appropriation, fashion, and economics, the play is usually referenced as a fine example of the “city comedy” genre, popular on the English stage from the late sixteenth century until the closing of the theaters in 1642. Obviously alluding to the success of the light-hearted dramatic form, the play’s Prologue declares that “tragic passion, / And such grave stuff, is this day out of fashion” (I.Pro.11-12). Like o…
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Citation: Kimbro, Devori. "The Roaring Girl". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7602, accessed 21 November 2024.]
