The Literary Career and Legacy of Elizabeth Cary, 1613–1680

In addition to essays on various aspects of early modern English literature and culture, he is the author of The Making of Jacobean Culture: James I and the Renegotiation of Elizabethan Literary Practice (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and Literature and Favoritism in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2006). He is also the editor of Material Culture and Cultural Materialisms in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Brepols, 2001). Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-13 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Private Lyrics in Elizabeth Cary’s Tragedy of Mariam....Pages 17-34 Mariam And Early Modern Discourses Of Martyrdom....Pages 35-52 Elizabeth Cary’s Historical Conscience: The Tragedy of Mariam and Thomas Lodge’s Josephus....Pages 53-67 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 “Royal Fever” and “The Giddy Commons”: Cary’s History of the Life, Reign, and Death of Edward II and the Buckingham Phenomenon....Pages 71-88 “Fortune is a Stepmother”: Gender and Political Discourse in Elizabeth Cary’s History of Edward II....Pages 89-105 A Bibliographical Palimpsest: The Post-Publication History of the 1680 Octavo, The History of the Most Unfortunate Prince King Edward II....Pages 107-124 From Manuscript to Printed Text: Telling and Retelling the History of Edward II....Pages 125-144 Front Matter....Pages 145-145 “To Informe Thee Aright”: Translating Du Perron for English Religious Debates....Pages 147-163 Elizabeth Cary and the Great Tew Circle....Pages 165-182 “Reader, Stand Still and Look, lo Here I am”: Elizabeth Cary’s Funeral Elegy “On the Duke of Buckingham”....Pages 183-200 Front Matter....Pages 201-201 “A More Worthy Patronesse”: Elizabeth Cary and Ireland....Pages 203-221 “To Have Her Children With Her”: Elizabeth Cary and Familial Influence....Pages 223-241 Back Matter....Pages 243-258 This collection is the first book-length study of the writings and influence of Elizabeth Cary, author of the first original play by a woman to be printed in English, The Tragedy of Mariam (1613). While previous criticism has focused most exclusively on The Tragedie of Mariam and The History of Edward II, the essays in this volume broaden our understanding of Cary as a writer by incorporating critical and historical analyses of her forays into other genres as well. Always mindful of the literary, political, and religious backdrop of early Stuart England, the essays explore the extent of her engagement in both the print and manuscript worlds of early modern England. The essays address crucial questions about authorship, form, and reception and avoid generalizations about gender that would smooth over her consistently ambiguous portrayals of male and female figures and her complicated appropriations of typically?male? genres This collection is the first book-length study of the writings and influence of Elizabeth Cary, author of the first original play by a woman to be printed in English, "The Tragedyie of Mariam" (1613). While previous criticism has focused almost exclusively on "The Tragedie of Mariam" and "The History of Edward II", the essays in this volume broaden our understanding of Cary as a writer by incorporating critical and historical analyses of her forays into other genres as well This is the first book to study the work and influence of Elizabeth Cary, author of the first original play by a woman to be printed in English, The Tragedyie of Mariam (1613). Previous criticism focused concentrated on this and The History of Edward II , this volume incorporates critical and historical analyses of other genres too.