Conversional Economies: Thomas Middleton’s Chaste Maid in Cheapside

In an analysis of Thomas Middleton’s A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, this chapter argues that theatre made it possible for people to see that conversion was as much a process of introspection and self-discovery as a series of material transactions that allowed—or forced—human beings into different social, economic, and spiritual states. These transactions were not simply the result of a cynical attempt to turn the tide in pursuit of an unscrupulous benefit (be it social or economic). They were also a way to navigate the processes of conversion itself—the many passageways and alleys that linked the City of God and the Earthly City.