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- Title
A Crisis of Friendship?: Representation and Experience in Two Late University Plays.
- Authors
MARLOW, CHRISTOPHER
- Abstract
The article discusses the concepts of friendship in two 17th century English university plays, "The Rival Friends" by Peter Hausted and "The Combat of Love and Friendship" by Robert Mead. It notes that two notions of friendship are seen, the idealistic Platonic ideal of masculine friendship involving blood sacrifice if necessary, and the friendship of strategic alliances for worldly ambitions. Both involve a view of women as commodities to be traded or sacrificed. The Platonic ideal is shown in both plays to be unrealistic in the world in which the Bachelor of Arts actually lives. It notes that outstanding cast lists for the plays show that the players were drawn from all of the levels of class found within the university student body.
- Subjects
MALE friendship; INTERPERSONAL relations; FRIENDSHIP; SOCIOLOGY of friendship; PLATONIC love in literature; ENGLISH theater; SEVENTEENTH century; THEATER history; ENGLAND in literature; ELIZABETHAN (Literary period); 17TH century (Literary period)
- Publication
Shakespeare Studies (Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corporation), 2009, Vol 37, p54
- ISSN
0582-9399
- Publication type
Literary Criticism