Sujet : "An Act to restrain abuses of players" came into force (27-5-1606)
De : benlizro (at) *nospam* ihug.co.nz (Ross Clark)
Groupes : sci.langDate : 29. May 2024, 11:38:07
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <v370ik$13pbq$1@dont-email.me>
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"For the preuenting and auoyding of the great abuse of the holy Name of God in Stage-playes, Interludes, Maygames, Shews and such like..."
Censorship directed, as it says, towards profane use of the name of God, "or of Christ Jesus, or of the holy Ghost, or of the Trinitie...", including expressions such as "Zounds!" (< God's wounds), which technically do not actually contain the name.
Shakespeare was in his prime. Apparently this act helps to explain many textual differences between pre-1606 quarto editions of his plays and the 1623 (posthumous) First Folio.