".Egginton's account of theatricality provides one useful place to begin a needed reassessment of modernity that will free us from the grip of the 'subject' as the sole way to understand and criticize modern institutions." -- Theatre Research International "The author brings philosophical scholarship of a very high order to bear on concrete questions in the history of drama. Such a leap has to be made with clarity and rigor if it is going to be persuasive, and Egginton brings it off elegantly. He addresses the perennial issue of whether philosophical thinking can have a productive relationship to real issues--and answers it with a resounding yes. A highly original, fascinating book." -- John McCumber, Northwestern University "I like the book's challenging breadth of theoretical investigation. It offers a way of thinking about the transition from medieval to early modern that is at once familiar and quite new.

The implications are important for thinking about theater, about presence, about signs." -- David Bevington, University of Chicago "The strength of Egginton's book lies in its originality. I am not familiar with any other work in this area that shows this combination of original insight and theoretical strength. It will be a reference for scholars in Romance studies in general." -- Joan Ramon Resina, Cornell University.