An annotated edition of an unusual play by a female writer from the early modern period with the high quality scholarship associated with all Arden titles.

Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry is a Jacobean closet drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary. First published in 1613, it was the first work by a woman to be published under her real name. Never performed during Cary's lifetime, and apparently never intended for performance, the Senecan revenge tragedy tells the story of Mariam, the second wife of Herod. The play exposes and explores the themes of sex, divorce, betrayal, murder, and Jewish society under Herod's tyrannous rule. The comprehensive, illustrated introduction discusses the play in the context of closet drama, female dramatists and in terms of the religious issues it explores, seeing Mariam as a martyr figure. The on-page commentary notes provide further close analysis and explanation, creating an ideal edition for study and teaching.

"Perhaps the most striking feature of The Tragedy of Mariam by Elizabeth Cary, now masterfully edited by Ramona Wray for Arden's Early Modern Drama series is its continuing relevance to modern audiences... Like all Arden editions, modernized spellings and detailed footnotes make this a valuable edition, accessible to all." - Times Literary Supplement

"…affordable, portable, and well glossed…" - Studies in English Literature, Vol. 53, No. 2