A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture)

This is a one volume, up-to-date collection of more than fifty wide-ranging essays which will inspire and guide students of the Renaissance and provide course leaders with a substantial and helpful frame of reference. Provides new perspectives on established texts. Orientates the new student, while providing advanced students with current and new directions. Pioneered by leading scholars. Occupies a unique niche in Renaissance studies. Illustrated with 12 single-page black and white prints. ENGLISH RENAISSANCE LITERATURE AND CULTURE......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 List of Illustrations......Page 12 Notes on Contributors......Page 14 PART ONE Introduction......Page 23 1 Introduction......Page 25 PART TWO Contexts and Perspectives,1500—1650......Page 33 2 Early Tudor Humanism......Page 35 3 English Reformations......Page 49 4 Platonism, Stoicism, Scepticism and Classical Imitation......Page 66 5 History......Page 80 6 The English Language of the Early Modern Period......Page 93 7 Publication: Print and Manuscript......Page 103 8 Literacy and Education......Page 117 9 Court and Coterie Culture......Page 128 10 The Literature of the Metropolis......Page 141 11 Playhouses and the Role of Drama......Page 155 12 The Writing of Travel......Page 170 PART THREE Readings......Page 185 13 Translations of the Bible......Page 187 14 A Reading of Wyatt's 'Who so list to hunt'......Page 198 15 Courtship and Counsel: John Lyly's Campaspe......Page 209 16 Spenser's Faerie Queene, Book V: Poetry, Politics and Justice......Page 217 17 Kyd's Spanish Tragedy......Page 228 18 Donne's 'Nineteenth Elegy'......Page 237 19 Lanyer's 'The Description of Cookham' and Jonson's 'To Penshurst'......Page 246 20 Bacon's 'Of Simulation and Dissimulation'......Page 255 21 Lancelot Andrewes's Good Friday 1604 Sermon......Page 263 22 Herbert's 'The Elixir'......Page 271 23 The Heart of the Labyrinth: Mary Wroth's Pamphilia to Amphilanthus......Page 279 24 The Critical Elegy......Page 289 25 Ford, Mary Wroth, and the Final Scene of ' Tis Pity She's a Whore......Page 298 PART FOUR Genres and Modes......Page 307 26 Theories of Literary Kinds......Page 309 27 Allegory......Page 320 28 Pastoral......Page 329 29 Romance......Page 339 30 Epic......Page 349 31 The Position of Poetry: Making and Defending Renaissance Poetics......Page 362 32 The English Print, c. 1550„c. 1650......Page 374 33 Traditions of Complaint and Satire......Page 389 34 Love Poetry......Page 400 35 Erotic Poems......Page 414 36 Religious Verse......Page 426 37 Poets, Friends and Patrons: Donne and his Circle; Ben and his Tribe......Page 441 38 'Such pretty things would soon be gone': The Neglected Genres of Popular Verse, 1480...1650......Page 464 39 Local and 'Customary' Drama......Page 486 40 Continuities between 'Medieval' and 'Early Modern' Drama......Page 499 41 Political Plays......Page 508 42 Women and Drama......Page 521 43 Tales of the City: The Comedies of Ben Jonson and Thomas Middleton......Page 535 44 'Tied / To Rules of Flattery?': Court Drama and the Masque......Page 547 45 Jacobean Tragedy......Page 567 46 Caroline Theatre......Page 578 47 Scientific Writing......Page 587 48 Prose Fiction......Page 598 49 Theological Writings and Religious Polemic......Page 611 50 The English Renaissance Essay: Churchyard, Cornwallis, Florio's Montaigne and Bacon......Page 622 51 Diaries......Page 631 52 Letters......Page 637 PART FIVE Issues and Debates......Page 643 53 Rhetoric......Page 645 54 Identity......Page 656 55 Was There a Renaissance Feminism?......Page 666 56 The Debate on Witchcraft......Page 675 57 Reconstructing the Past: History, Historicism, Histories......Page 684 58 Sexuality: A Renaissance Category?......Page 696 59 Race: A Renaissance Category?......Page 712 60 Writing the Nation......Page 721 Index......Page 731 Plates......Page 771 Early Tudor Humanism / Mary Thomas Crane -- English Reformations / Patrick Collinson -- Platonism, Stoicism, Scepticism And Classical Imitation / Sarah Hutton -- History / Patrick Collinson -- The English Language Of The Early Modern Period / N.f. Blake -- Publication : Print And Manuscript / Michelle O'callaghan -- Literacy And Education / Jean R. Brink -- Court And Coterie Culture / Curtis Perry -- The Literature Of The Metropolis / John A. Twyning -- Playhouses And The Role Of Drama / Michael Hattaway -- The Writing Of Travel / Peter Womack -- Translations Of The Bible / Gerald Hammond -- A Reading Of Wyatt's 'who So List To Hunt' / Rachel Falconer -- Courtship And Counsel : John Lyly's Campaspe / Greg Walker -- Spenser's Faerie Queene, Book V : Poetry, Politics And Justice / Judith H. Anderson -- Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy / A.j. Piesse -- Donne's 'nineteenth Elegy' / Germaine Greer -- Lanyer's 'the Description Of Cookham' And Jonson's 'to Penshurst' / Nicole Pohl -- Bacon's 'of Simulation And Dissimulation' / Martin Dzelzainis -- Lancelot Andrewe's Good Friday 1604 Sermon / Richard Harries -- Herbert's 'the Elixir' / Judith Weil -- The Heart Of The Labyrinth : Mary Wroth's Pamphilia To Amphilanthus / Robyn Bolam -- The Critical Elegy / John Lyon -- Ford, Mary Wroth, And The Final Scene Of 'tis Pity She's A Whore / Robyn Bolam -- Theories Of Literary Kinds / John Roe -- Allegory / Clara Mucci -- Pastoral / Michelle O'callaghan. Edited By Michael Hattaway. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. * Provides new perspectives on established texts. * Orientates the new student, while providing advanced students with current and new directions. * Pioneered by leading scholars. * Occupies a unique niche in Renaissance studies. * Illustrated with 12 single-page black and white prints. . This volume contains provocative essays on canonical genres such as love poetry and Jacobean tragedy, but also accounts of popular and occasional productions of drama and verse. The book then moves on to consider pertinent issues such as feminism, sexuality, humanism and historicism. Bringing together essays from an international team of leading scholars, this book considers the ways in which Renaissance culture influence literary production. It explores contemporary debates in Renaissance studies such as feminism, sexuality, historicism, and nation