instantly in love; there is a balcony scene, and a secret marriage by a friar. Verbal echoes of Shakespeare's play also occur in Blurt — though the latter play is bawdier. A similar borrowing from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is evident in the play's comic subplot, which features the title character of Blurt the constable (rather as if Much Ado were titled Dogberry). Notes References Bullen, A. H., ed. The Plays of Thomas Middleton. 8 volumes, London, J. C. Nimno, 1885–1886. Bly, Mary. "Bawdy Puns and Lustful Virgins: The Legacy of Juliet's Desire in Comedies of the 1600s". Shakespeare Survey 49; Stanley Wells, ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002; pp. 97–110. Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage. 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. Desens, Marliss C. The Bed-Trick in English Renaissance Drama: Explorations in Gender, Sexuality, and Power. Newrak, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1994. Lake, David J. The Canon of Thomas Middleton's Plays. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975. Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Popular School: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1975. Oliphant, E. H. C. "The Authorship of "The Revenger's Tragedy". Studies in Philology 23 (1926), pp. 157–168. External links Quarto of 1602: scan (Internet Archive) and transcription (EEBO-TCP) Modernized text English Renaissance plays Plays by Thomas Middleton Plays by Thomas Dekker (writer) 1600s plays