Middleton's "Vulgar Pasquin" Essays on A Game at Chess

Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess (1624) is the most remarkable play of James I's reign. A staunchly anti-Spanish, anti-Jesuit chess allegory, with touches of topical satire, its nine consecutive performances are an unexampled dramatization of contemporary political concerns following the breakdown of the Spanish marriage negotiations and James's reversal of his long-maintained foreign policies. A Game quickly became notorious for its free treatment of forbidden topics: contemporary references to the play dealing with its suppression are exceptionally numerous. The essays in Middleton's "Vulgar Pasquin" are substantially revisionist and situate the play in critical, genetic, historical, and theatrical contexts. Four appendixes supply information valuable for the readers of the plays and editors.