Dangerous Matter

This book is a study of a group of plays (Neptune's Triumph, The Life of the Duchess of Suffolk, The Bondman, The Sun's Darling, and A Game at Chesse) which appeared during one theatrical season in London in 1623–1624. These plays all allude in various ways to contemporary political issues, and Dr Limon shows how it is possible to treat them as components of a propaganda campaign designed to promote the cause of a particular faction, led by Prince Charles and the Duke of Buckingham, in the court of James I. The campaign opposed James' peaceful initiatives, which included an attempt to marry Charles to the Spanish Infanta. It was a period of severe censorship, and the playwrights engaged in the campaign had to be careful on the one hand to obtain the censor's licence (plays were often suppressed as 'dangerous matter') and on the other to convey appropriate political messages. The book demonstrates how this was managed, and proceeds to investigate the relationship between literature, politics and censorship in general.