Thomas Gresham's Law, Jane Shore's Mercy: Value and Class in the Plays of Thomas Heywood

Abstract

Thomas Heywood's plays use historical figures like Thomas Gresham and Jane Shore to reconcile the growing economic power of the bourgeoisie with traditional, aristocratic modes of evaluation. Drawing on the economic theories and demonology of contemporary thinkers like Jean Bodin, Heywood suggests that, when it is regarded as an autonomous power, financial value becomes a dangerous, metaphysical force, which is comparable in ethical status and psychological effects to magic. His work undertakes to show that mercantile social status does not necessarily involve allegiance to this demonic power, and to reconcile the mode of evaluation inculcated by market activity with the values and mores of the established social structure.