Shakespeare among the courtesans

Duncan Salkeld

This book presents a series of studies on the topic of prostitution in early modern drama, viewed in both English and Italian contexts. Drawing on a variety of documentary sources, it provides new historical information about social aspects of Shakespeare's time, including rape, child abuse, venereal disease, strangers and 'blackamores', and prostitutes in both Italy and England, some of whom became literary icons. It gives new evidence for the sexual history behind Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, racial tensions behind Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, and it argues that Shakespeare imbued his 'Dark Lady' of the Sonnets with the reputation of a brothel madam named Black Luce who had particular connections with the members of Gray's Inn and Philip Henslowe. In addition, it gives details of a number of early modern women including Matrema non vuol ['Mummy doesn't like it'], twin sisters called the 'Piemontesian executioners', Lucrezia Cognati ('Imperia'), Elizabeth Evans of Stratford on Avon, Jane Trosse, Ann Levens and Rose Flower. The book adds further information about Shakespeare's professional and personal links with Clerkenwell.