Framed by the publication of Leviathan and the 1713 Licensing Act, this collection provides analysis of both canonical and non-canonical texts within the scope of an eighty-year period of theatre history, allowing for definition and assessment that uncouples Restoration drama from eighteenth-century drama. Individual essays demonstrate the significant contrasts between the theatre of different decades and the context of performance, paying special attention to the literary innovation and socio-political changes that contributed to the evolution of drama. Exploring the developments in both tragedy and comedy, and in literary production, specific topics include the playwright's relationship to the monarch, women writers' connection to the audience, the changing market for plays, and the rise of the bourgeoisie. This collection also examines aspects of gender and class through the exploration of women's impact on performance and production, masculinity and libertinism, master/servant relationships, and dramatic representations of the coffee house. Accompanied by a list of Spanish-English plays and a chronology of monarch's reigns and significant changes in theatre history, From Leviathan to Licensing Act is a valuable tool for scholars of Restoration and eighteenth-century performance, providing groundwork for future research and investigation.

Contents: Introduction, Catie Gill; What do the servants know?, Paddy Lyons; Flinging the book away: books, reading and gender in the Restoration stage, Jacqueline Pearson; Coffee-houses and Restoration drama, Juan A. Prieto-Pablos; Sex and tyranny revisited: Waller's The Maid's Tragedy and Rochester's Valentinian, Sandra Clark; Sex, tyranny and the problem of allegiance: political drama during the Restoration, Warren Chernaik; The adaptation of 17th-century Spanish drama to the English stage during the Restoration period: the case of Chalderón, Jorge Braga Riera; The female wits: women writers at work, Jane Milling; 'Jilting jades'? Perceptions of female playgoers in the Restoration, 1660-1700, Fiona Ritchie; Revolution and the moral reform of the stage: the case of Durfey's The Marriage-Hater Matched (1692), María José Mora and Manuel J. Gómez-Lara; Works cited; Index.