Abstract
Thomas Dekker and John Webster'sThe Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyatintertwines Lady Jane Grey's enforced usurpation and Wyatt's rebellion in challenging ways. The scant criticism on the play has usually interpreted it as a late example of chronicle history. However, although the account of Wyatt's rebellion, taken mainly from Holinshed'sChronicles, follows the Elizabethan model of the history play, Lady Jane Grey's usurpation presents the private as ideological arena, responding to an increasing tendency to tell history through its impact on individuals. The present study attempts to clarify the role of pathos in the reshaping of genre, as the collaborative composition brought about a hybrid of two generic models of staging history. The result attests the role of emotions in the transition from the traditional history play to the pathetic tragedy. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.