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Early Modern English Literature
When we engage with the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, we encounter a culture radically unfamiliar to us at the start of the twenty-first century. The past is a foreign country, and so too are many of its texts. This readable and provocative book seeks to enhance our understanding of early modern literature by recovering the contexts in which it was originally produced and consumed.
Taking us back to the courts, theatres and marketplaces of early modern England, Jason Scott-Warren reveals the varied ways in which literary texts dovetailed with everyday experience, unlocking the distinctive social practices, economic structures and modes of behaviour that gave them meaning. He shows how the periods most beguiling writings were conditioned by long-forgotten notions of knowledge, nationhood, sexuality and personal identity. Bringing an anthropologists eye to his materials, he offers richly detailed new readings of works from within and beyond the canon, covering a span that stretches from Erasmus and More to Milton and Behn.
Resisting any notion of the period as merely transitional a staging post on the road leading from the medieval to the modern world Scott-Warren reveals the distinctiveness of its literary culture, and equips the reader for fresh encounters with its extraordinary textual legacy. Any undergraduate student of the period will find it an essential guide, while scholars will find its fresh approach invigorating.
Taking us back to the courts, theatres and marketplaces of early modern England, Jason Scott-Warren reveals the varied ways in which literary texts dovetailed with everyday experience, unlocking the distinctive social practices, economic structures and modes of behaviour that gave them meaning. He shows how the periods most beguiling writings were conditioned by long-forgotten notions of knowledge, nationhood, sexuality and personal identity. Bringing an anthropologists eye to his materials, he offers richly detailed new readings of works from within and beyond the canon, covering a span that stretches from Erasmus and More to Milton and Behn.
Resisting any notion of the period as merely transitional a staging post on the road leading from the medieval to the modern world Scott-Warren reveals the distinctiveness of its literary culture, and equips the reader for fresh encounters with its extraordinary textual legacy. Any undergraduate student of the period will find it an essential guide, while scholars will find its fresh approach invigorating.
- GenresHistory
Hardcover
First published October 14, 2005
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March 20, 2020
Early Modern English Literature is part of Polity Press’ Cultural History of Literature series. The purpose of the book is ‘to describe and confront the historical difference of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts, in order to point the way to more fruitful and pleasurable ways of engaging with them’.
The blurb of the book states that it is ‘readable and provocative’ and ‘seeks to enhance our understanding of early modern literature by recovering the contexts in which it was originally produced and consumed’.
The book is split into two sections – ‘Places of Writing’ and ‘Forging Identities’. Aspects such as ‘Self’, ‘Gender and Desire’, ‘Nation’, ‘Nature’ and ‘The Theatres’ have been included. There is also a separate section on ‘The Court’. Maps and illustrations have been used at several points in order to enhance understanding. Quotes, which range from scholars and writers within the period, as well as authors such as C.S. Lewis with his book English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, have been written exactly as they appear in early editions as far as possible.
Scott-Warren states that ‘a handful of great characters’ from the early modern period ‘are brandished to demonstrate that literature never really changes’. He believes that literature from the early modern period is just as important today as it was when it was written. Poems, plays and other accounts have been focused upon and authors from Sidney and Shakespeare to Milton and Marvell have been considered in detail.
Early Modern English Literature is aimed at undergraduate students and scholars, and is certainly a suitable text for both. The cultural history of early modern English literature has been set out well and Scott-Warren has created a very informative account. Some of the language used does seem a little overcomplicated at times, but it is an interesting volume.
The blurb of the book states that it is ‘readable and provocative’ and ‘seeks to enhance our understanding of early modern literature by recovering the contexts in which it was originally produced and consumed’.
The book is split into two sections – ‘Places of Writing’ and ‘Forging Identities’. Aspects such as ‘Self’, ‘Gender and Desire’, ‘Nation’, ‘Nature’ and ‘The Theatres’ have been included. There is also a separate section on ‘The Court’. Maps and illustrations have been used at several points in order to enhance understanding. Quotes, which range from scholars and writers within the period, as well as authors such as C.S. Lewis with his book English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, have been written exactly as they appear in early editions as far as possible.
Scott-Warren states that ‘a handful of great characters’ from the early modern period ‘are brandished to demonstrate that literature never really changes’. He believes that literature from the early modern period is just as important today as it was when it was written. Poems, plays and other accounts have been focused upon and authors from Sidney and Shakespeare to Milton and Marvell have been considered in detail.
Early Modern English Literature is aimed at undergraduate students and scholars, and is certainly a suitable text for both. The cultural history of early modern English literature has been set out well and Scott-Warren has created a very informative account. Some of the language used does seem a little overcomplicated at times, but it is an interesting volume.
Displaying 1 of 1 review