Roth explores the role of traditions in the institutional development of the noh theater from the 14th to the late 20th century. He focuses on the development of key traditions that constitute the "ethos of noh," the ideology that empowered certain groups of actors at the expense of others, and how this ethos fostered noh's professionalization.

traditions that form the ethos of noh, such as those surrounding masks and manuscripts, are the key traits that define it as an art.