Originally published in 1987, this book is a chronologically horiztonal study of many aspects of one group of tragedies, written under similar conditions during a short period of time: the Elizabethan tragedies of the inns of court. The plays produced by members of the Inns of Court have long been recognized as seminal in the development of Elizabethan tragedy, and include the earliest formal dramatic tragedy in English. The book includes chapters on plot construction, characters and characterization and ethical significance.