Introduction. Changing Fortunes: Reviving and Revisiting The Misfortunes of Arthur

The dramatic mixture of Arthurian legend and Senecan tragedy inspired the revival of The Misfortunes of Arthur in 2019, a play originally written by lawyers at Gray’s Inn and performed before Elizabeth I in 1588. A small but significant body of scholarship has highlighted the play’s function as a vehicle for offering monarchic counsel. As the essays in this Issues in Review demonstrate, however, there are alternative ways of approaching Misfortunes through its theatricality, its dramatization of Inns ideology, its composition, and its publication. This introduction outlines why the play merits further attention.