An incisive study of the use of interruption as a dramatic form in the works of Shakespeare, Jonson and Fletcher.

To interrupt, both on stage and off, is to wrest power. From the Ghost’s appearance in Hamlet to Celia’s frightful speech in Volpone, interruptions are an overlooked linguistic and dramatic form that delineates the balance of power within a scene. This book analyses interruptions as a specific form in dramatic literature, arguing that these everyday occurrences, when transformed into aesthetic phenomena, reveal illuminating connections: between characters, between actor and audience, and between text and reader. Focusing on the works of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and John Fletcher, Michael M. Wagoner examines interruptions that occur through the use of punctuation and stage directions, as well as through larger forms, such as conventions and dramaturgy. He demonstrates how studying interruptions may indicate aspects of authorial style – emphasizing a playwright’s use and control of a text – and how exploring relative power dynamics pushes readers and audiences to reconsider key plays and characters, providing new considerations of the relationships between Othello and Iago, or Macbeth and the Ghost of Banquo.

"With its wide-ranging scope, its insightful close readings and its persuasive argument, Michael M. Wagoner’s Interruptions in Early Modern English Drama will be a useful addition to the libraries of all students of early modern drama, especially those invested in the workings of conventions and structural issues, and those interested in the editing of early modern plays, as well as experts of Shakespeare, Jonson and, especially, Fletcher." - Domenico Lovascio, University of Genova, Italy, Domenico Lovascio, Early Modern Literary Studies