شکسپیر در میان کورتیزان‌ها: فحشا، ادبیات و درام، ۱۵۰۰-۱۶۵۰ (مجموعه مطالعات رنسانس آنگلو-ایتالیایی)

Courtesans - women who achieve wealth, status, or power through sexual transgression - have played both a central and contradictory role in literature: they have been admired, celebrated, feared, and vilified. This study of the courtesan in Renaissance English drama focuses not only on the moral ambivalence of these women, but with special attention to Anglo-Italian relations, illuminates little known aspects of their lives. It traces the courtesan from a wry comedic character in the plays of Terence and Plautus to its literary exhaustion in the seventeenth-century dramatic works of Dekker, Marston, Webster, Middleton, Shirley and Brome. The author focuses especially on the presentation of the courtesan in the sixteenth century - dramas by Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Lyly view the courtesan as a symbol of social disease and decay, transforming classical conventions into English prejudices. Renaissance Anglo-Italian cultural and sexual relations are also investigated through comparisons of travel narratives, original source materials, and analysis of Aretino's representations of celebrated Italian courtesans. Amid these fascinating tales of aspiration, desire and despair lingers the intriguing question of who was the 'dark lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets. This book presents a series of studies on the topic of prostitution in early modern drama, viewed in both English and Italian contexts. Drawing on a variety of documentary sources, it provides new historical information about social aspects of Shakespeare's time, including rape, child abuse, venereal disease, strangers and 'blackamores', and prostitutes in both Italy and England, some of whom became literary icons. It gives new evidence for the sexual history behind Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, racial tensions behind Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, and it argues that Shakespeare imbued his 'Dark Lady' of the Sonnets with the reputation of a brothel madam named Black Luce who had particular connections with the members of Gray's Inn and Philip Henslowe. In addition, it gives details of a number of early modern women including Matrema non vuol ['Mummy doesn't like it'], twin sisters called the 'Piemontesian executioners', Lucrezia Cognati ('Imperia'), Elizabeth Evans of Stratford on Avon, Jane Trosse, Ann Levens and Rose Flower. The book adds further information about Shakespeare's professional and personal links with Clerkenwell. This book presents a series of studies on the topic of prostitution in early modern drama, viewed in both English and Italian contexts. Drawing on a variety of documentary sources, it discusses social aspects of Shakespeare's time, including rape, child abuse, venereal disease, strangers and 'blackamores', and prostitutes in both Italy and England, some of whom became literary icons. It gives evidence for the sexual history behind Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, racial tensions behind Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, and it argues that Shakespeare imbued his 'Dark Lady' of the Sonnets with the reputation of a brothel madam named Black Luce who had particular connections with the members of Gray's Inn and Philip Henslowe. In addition, it gives details of a number of early modern women including Matrema non vuol ['Mummy doesn't like it'], twin sisters called the 'Piemontesian executioners', Lucrezia Cognati ('Imperia'), Elizabeth Evans of Stratford on Avon, Jane Trosse, Ann Levens and Rose Flower. The book adds further information about Shakespeare's professional and personal links with Clerkenwell. Cover 1 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 12 A Note on the Text 14 1 Introduction: Classical and Early Modern Counterparts 16 2 English Prototypes and the ‘foul disease’ 42 3 Travellers and the Sex Trade in Early Modern London 62 4 In Between Renaissance Sheets: Making Contact 84 5 Courtesan Culture in Kyd, Marlowe and Heywood 112 6 Shakespeares, the Clerkenwell Madam and Rose Flower 134 7 Vanishing Tricks: Dekker, Marston, Shakespeare and Middleton 166 Bibliography 194 Index 208 Prostitution, Literature, and Drama, 1500-1650 Paying special attention to Anglo-Italian cultural and sexual relations during the Renaissance, this study traces the development and decline of the courtesan in English drama. Salkeld draws on original historical materials to explore contradictory dramatic representations of courtesans in a variety of texts ranging from Shakespeare's poems and plays to works by Aretino, Nashe, Dekker and Middleton Introduction: Classical and early modern counterparts "Foul disease" on the English stage Travellers and the sex trade in early modern London In between renaissance sheets: making contact Courtesan culture in Kyd, Marlowe And Heywood Shakespeares, the Clerkenwell madam and Rose flower Vanishing tricks: Dekker, Marston, Shakespeare and Middleton. Focuses not only on the moral ambivalence of these women, but with attention to Anglo-Italian relations, illuminates little known aspects of their lives. This title traces the courtesan from a stock comedic character in the plays of Terence and Plautus to its literary exhaustion in the seventeenth-century dramatic works of Dekker, and Marston.