"Seneca by Candlelight brings the insights of traditional historical philology to bear on questions of gender, politics, and subject-formation with as much intelligence and panache as any other book I can think of."--Debora Shuger, University of California at Los Angeles "An interesting tale of one scholar's personal encounter with Renaissance drama, with thought-provoking insights into the traditions at work on the early modern stage."--Sixteenth Century Journal "The book offers fresh readings of early modern English plays that adapted the rhetorical and theatrical traditions of Rome. . . . Its appeal lies in Helms's passionate engagement."--Shakespeare Quarterly