Shakespeare's Troy : drama, politics, and the translation of empire / Heather James.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

James, Heather, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 22.

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 22

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Troilus and Cressida.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Political and social views.

Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--17th century.

Politics and literature.

Political plays, English--History and criticism.

Political plays, English.

Troilus (Legendary character) in literature.

Trojan War--Literature and the war.

Trojan War.

English drama--Roman influences.

English drama.

Imperialism in literature.

Trojans in literature.

Myth in literature.

Troy (Extinct city)--In literature.

Troy (Extinct city).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 271 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Heather James examines the ways in which Shakespeare handles the inheritance and transmission of the Troy legend. She argues that Shakespeare's use of Virgil, Ovid and other classical sources demonstrates the appropriation of classical authority in the interests of developing a national myth, and goes on to distinguish Shakespeare's deployment of the myth from 'official' Tudor and Stuart ideology. James traces Shakespeare's reworking of the myth in Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline and The Tempest, and shows how the legend of Troy in Queen Elizabeth's day differed from that in the time of King James. The larger issue the book confronts is the directly political one of the way in which Shakespeare's textual appropriations participate in the larger cultural project of finding historical legitimation for a realm that was asserting its status as an empire.

Contents:

Introduction: Shakespeare's fatal Cleopatra

Shakespeare and the Troy Legend

Blazoning injustices: mutilating Titus Andronicus, Vergil, and Rome

"Tricks we play on the dead": making history in Troilus and Cressida

To earn a place in the story: resisting the Aeneid in Antony and Cleopatra

Cymbeline's mingle-mangle: Britain's Roman histories

"How came that window in?": allusion, politics, and the theater in The Tempest.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 222-262) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-82416-5

0-511-58196-3

0-511-00078-2