The works of Thomas Middleton, Volume 5 (of 5)

This volume assembles comedies, masques, poetic paraphrase, and shorter dramatic and satirical pieces that probe marriage, money, and social pretension. Central comic plots hinge on secrecy, swapped identities, and servant cunning to expose mercenary matches and restore rightful unions; other pieces stage allegorical pageants and courtly entertainments celebrating virtues, while lyric and satirical miscellany includes a paraphrase of biblical wisdom, elegiac notices of actors, and critical or playful addresses to contemporaries. The tone alternates between sharp urban satire and ornate masque spectacle, with recurring emphasis on deception, theatricality, and the negotiation of social rank.