Marriage and Land Law in Shakespeare and Middleton

While following the arc of changing early modern marriage practices, Marriage and Land Law in Shakespeare and Middleton examines the ways in which the oldest determination of status, land, informs marital decisions. In paired discussions of marriage plays by Shakespeare and Middleton, the book explores the maneuvers that marriageable characters deploy in order to control spousal choice and secure land. Investigation into the milieu of early modern inheritance laws enables a fresh reading of Shakespeare’s and Middleton’s marriage comedies.