Shakespeare, Spenser, and the crisis in Ireland / Christopher Highley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Highley, Christopher, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 23.

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 23

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Histories.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Knowledge--Ireland.

Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599--Knowledge--Ireland.

Spenser, Edmund.

English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism.

English literature.

Historical drama, English--History and criticism.

Historical drama, English.

British--Ireland--History--16th century.

British.

Literature and history--Ireland.

Literature and history.

Renaissance--England.

Renaissance.

Ireland--Foreign public opinion, English--History--16th century.

Ireland.

Ireland--History--1558-1603--Historiography.

Ireland--In literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 246 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Shakespeare, Spenser, & the Crisis in Ireland

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ireland is increasingly recognized as a crucial element in early modern British literary and political history. Christopher Highley's book explores the most serious crisis the Elizabethan regime faced: its attempts to subdue and colonize the native Irish. Through a range of literary representations from Shakespeare and Spenser, and contemporaries like John Hooker, John Derricke, George Peele and Thomas Churchyard he shows how these writers produced a complex discourse about Ireland that cannot be reduced to a simple ethnic opposition. This book challenges traditional views about the impact of Spenser's experience in Ireland on his cultural identity, while also arguing that the interaction between English and Ireland is a powerful and provocative subtext in the work of Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists. Highley argues that the confrontation between an English imperial presence and a Gaelic 'other' was a profound factor in the definition of an English poetic self.

Contents:

Introduction: Elizabeth's other isle

1. Spenser's Irish courts

2. Reversing the conquest: deputies, rebels, and Shakespeare's 2 Henry VI

3. Ireland, Wales, and the representation of England's borderlands

4. The Tyrone rebellion and the gendering of colonial resistance in 1 Henry IV

5. "A softe kind of warre": Spenser and the female reformation of Ireland

6. "If the Cause be not good": Henry V and Essex's Irish campaign.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Feb 2016).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-239) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58191-2

0-511-00073-1