title: The Purpose of Playing: Shakespeare and the Cultural Politics of the Elizabethan Theatre
author: Louis Montrose
description: Employing a wide range of critical perspectives and analytical techniques, 'The Purpose Of Playing' elegantly demonstrates how language and literary imagination shape cultural value, belief, and understanding; social distinction and interaction; political control and contestation.
zlib_text: _Copyright_
  
  HarperCollins _Publishers_
  
  1 London Bridge Street
  
  London SE1 9GF
  
  [ _www.harpercollins.co.uk_](http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
  
  First published by HarperCollins _Publishers_ 2017
  
  Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2017
  
  Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of
  this work
  
  Part One illustration: 17th century view of London © Private
  Collection/Bridgeman Images
  
  Part Two illustration: Elizabethan theatre scene © Lebrecht Music and Arts
  Photo Library/Alamy
  
  Part Three illustration: The Globe Theatre from ‘Old and New London’ by Edward
  Walford © Montagu Images/Alamy
  
  Part Four illustration: Scene from an Elizabethan playhouse © Chronicle/Alamy
  
  Endpapers: Elizabethan theatre performers from ‘Drolls’ by Francis Kirkman ©
  Granger/Bridgeman Images; Section from William Shakespeare’s last will and
  testament © Ian Dagnall/Alamy
  
  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
  
  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, 