Book contents
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Plants
- Part II Places
- Chapter 3 The Theatre as Medical Marketplace
- Chapter 4 The Theatre as Bower
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 4 - The Theatre as Bower
Botanical Tapestries, the Passion of Christ and the Book of Nature in Cymbeline
from Part II - Places
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Plants
- Part II Places
- Chapter 3 The Theatre as Medical Marketplace
- Chapter 4 The Theatre as Bower
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter reads Cymbeline in the context of early modern tapestry depiction, in particular the uses of botanical motifs in medieval tapestries. It examines Cymbeline’s use of tapestries onstage as a way of recalling pre-Reformation technologies of seeing and interpreting visual texts. It asks to what extent Cymbeline, and Shakespeare’s theatre more boradly, can be understood sacramental in its conception, dramaturgy, and use of objects.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare's England , pp. 143 - 181Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025