Sensuality, Spirit, and Society in The Dutch Courtesan and Lording Barry’s The Family of Love (1608)

This essay stages a dialogue between The Dutch Courtesan and the comparatively neglected The Family of Love by Lording Barry. It discusses the differing ways Marston and Barry deploy the Familist fellowship that had recently come under fire from England's reigning monarch. I juxtapose the dramatists' representation of sensuality and spirituality across a broad range of characters. By attending to their shared preoccupation with the humoral, excretory body, the essay proposes that these comedies leave us with divergent social visions.