TIME'S DISTRACTIONS: A Play from the Time of Charles I.

Strommer, Diane Weltner, ed.

ISBN 10: 0890960089 / ISBN 13: 9780890960080

Published by Texas A & M University Press,, 1976

About this Item

Hardcover with clean, bright gray cloth covers; pages tight, clean, unmarked. Light DJ wear with one or two edge tears in half-inch range. Not a former library copy. ;. Bookseller Inventory # 37923

Bibliographic Details

Title: TIME'S DISTRACTIONS: A Play from the Time of...

Publisher: Texas A & M University Press,

Publication Date: 1976

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis:

The final curtain fell on the already dying age of Elizaethean, Jacobean, and Caroline drama in the late summer of 1642. Civil war broke out in England, and soon afterward the Puritan Parliament closed the theaters. Thus any surviving play from the last years of the reign of Charles I is of interest for the insight it can provide into that little-known period in the history of drama. 'Time's Distractions' is set in the mythical land of Arcadia, a pastoral land of innocent, contented simplicity in a golden age. There live peacefully the virtues -- Fortune, Virtue, Honor, Judgment, and others --as well as Time, Age, and Love, all ruled by their queen, Juno. But Time (a metaphor for 'the times') falls asleep and during his sleep is infected by the evils that divide men -- Envy, Suspicion, Malice, Jealousy and the rest. Thus distracted, Time spreads his infection throughout Arcadia, causing dissension and destroying the harmony of the land. Finally, Juno regains control, purging Time of the evils, expelling Danger, and creating bonds between the virtues that will be the foundation of Arcadia's future strength. Thus, the play's author has united commonplace dramatic emblems and images to make a political statement -- an expression of his desire for harmony instead of discord and for order and peace under the guidance of a strong sovereign.