Introduction: Disability in Early Modern Theatre

Abstract

The introduction to this selection of essays briefly outlines the recent flourishing of scholarship in disability studies and its perhaps rather belated entry into the field of early modern drama. It discusses the broader opportunities presented by synthesizing developments in disability theory with research on early modern theatre and argues for the vital importance of historical disability scholarship. While introducing some of the directions that disability scholarship on early modern theatre might take, this introduction argues that studying early modern disability offers innovative ways of imagining difference in bodies and minds both in the past and now.

Shakespeare and cognition: Scientism, theory, and 4E

“…Recent disability studies in early modern drama have sought instead to respond to the era's stigmatization of neurological states that do not fit society's norms. In her recent review essay, Susan Anderson calls for scholarship to “elucidate the relationship between madness and other kinds of cognitive impairment in early modern drama” (, p. 147), and Nora J. Williams draws attention to the troublesome theatrical practice of potentially “cripping up” in productions of The Changeling and other early plays (, p. 207) . The inattentiveness to the value or possible repercussions of Cefalu's conclusion is furthered by the occlusion of other identity politics.…”