Abstract
By examining two popular Jacobean city comedies, The Puritan (1606–1607) and Westward Ho (1604–1605), this article proposes that the rich lexicon of smells, outlining or residing within interior built spaces in each play, becomes a precarious signifier of restrictive forces of material expansion that at once challenge and build upon the more intimate nature of Jacobean private theaters. In so doing, it further argues that in early Stuart performances, references to smells not only were meant to evoke the materiality of stage and the bodies of actors and spectators, but significantly expanded drama's means of incorporating and probing into the material foundations of city life. The two plays also suggest that while Jacobean satirical drama employed odors to communicate concerns about London's restrictive conditions of living, it also used select venues to target ‘odor-conscious’ spectators who were more likely to respond to such fears.
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