Misperception and Protestant Reading in Gammer Gurton's Needle

Abstract

As a coarse comedy written according to classical rules, Gammer Gurton's Needle has been considered an important early example of the hybrid English drama. However, recent criticism has established that the play is a sophisticated comedy. Despite the development of an awareness of its deeper levels of meaning, no scholar has traced how the narrative emphasizes the importance of right reading. The audience learns to see right reading as a Protestant hermeneutic that enables them to transcend the Catholic emphasis on materiality and the literal interpretation of the Eucharist.