The Malcontent - New Mermaid Student Methuen

The play's vision of a fallen humanity driven by lust and ambition is created partly by its depiction of Machiavellian intrigue in the court of Genoa, and partly by the disaffected Malevole, the malcontent of the title, who is actually the deposed Duke Altofronto in disguise. Marston's tragi-comedy is full of reversals, surprises and moral transformations - a thin disguise for the Jacobean court and its vice

This Student Edition includes a lengthy new Introduction with background on the author, date and sources, theme, critical interpretation and stage history