Search

Summary

This sequence of chapter studies concludes with an innovative discussion considering seventeenth-century dramatic texts in Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian which depicted for European audiences vicious court factionalism, illicit amours and military ambitions at the court of the ageing Elizabeth I. Paying particular attention to the religious and political affiliations of the audiences for which these productions were designed, discussion concentrates upon the reception of Elizabeth’s political project and erotic profile in the continent’s playhouses and upon the enduring profiles attributed to her prominent courtiers such as Essex and Ralegh by European counterparts to Shakespeare. By way of a coda to this chapter, brief consideration is also devoted to the ways in which these European narratives of Elizabeth’s court culture from seventeenth-century playtexts and prose romances are then reintegrated into English literary traditions through productions designed for the Georgian theatre in the eighteenth century.

Shakespeare, Violence and Early Modern Europe broadens our understanding of the final years of the last Tudor monarch, revealing the truly international context in which they must be understood. Uncovering the extent to which Shakespeare's dramatic art intersected with European politics, Andrew Hiscock brings together close readings of the history plays, compelling insights into late Elizabethan political culture and renewed attention to neglected continental accounts of Elizabeth I. With fresh perspective, the book charts the profound influence that Shakespeare and ambitious courtiers had upon succeeding generations of European writers, dramatists and audiences following the turn of the sixteenth century. Informed by early modern and contemporary cultural debate, this book demonstrates how the study of early modern violence can illuminate ongoing crises of interpretation concerning brutality, victimization and complicity today.

Search Results

Refine search

Refine search

Actions for selected content:

2 results

Chapter 6 - European Afterlives 1600–1770

Summary

Shakespeare, Violence and Early Modern Europe

Search Results

Refine search

Refine search

Actions for selected content:

Save Search

2 results

Chapter 6 - European Afterlives 1600–1770

Summary

Shakespeare, Violence and Early Modern Europe