The Popular Culture of Shakespeare, Spenser and Jonson

1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-0-415-28881-1
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 544 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture

Breaking new ground by considering productions of popular culture from above, rather than from below, this book draws on theorists of cultural studies, such as Pierre Bourdieu, Roger Chartier and John Fiske to synthesize work from disparate fields and present new readings of well-known literary works.
Using the literature of Shakespeare, Spenser and Jonson, Mary Ellen Lamb investigates the social narratives of several social groups – an urban, middling group; an elite at the court of James; and an aristocratic faction from the countryside. She states that under the pressure of increasing economic stratification, these social fractions created cultural identities to distinguish themselves from each other – particularly from lower status groups. Focusing on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream and Merry Wives of Windsor, Spenser's Faerie Queene, and Jonson's Masque of Oberon, she explores the ways in which early modern literature formed a particularly productive site of contest for deep social changes, and how these changes in turn, played a large role in shaping some of the most well-known works of the period.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lamb, Mary Ellen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements 1. Producing Popular CulturesPart1: Fairies, Old Wives Tales, and Hobbyhorses: Rising to (In)visibility 2. Taken by the Fairies 3. Old Wives’ Tales 4. Hobbyhorses and Fellow TravellersPart 2: William Shakespeare 5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Breeching the Binary 6. Merry Wives of Windsor: Domestic Nationalism and the Refuse of the RealmPart 3: Edmund Spenser 7. The Faerie Queene: Vanishing Fairies and Dissolving Courtiers Part 4: Ben Jonson 8. Oberon, The Fairy Prince (1611) and The Great Fairy Caper; The Sad Shepherd (c. 1637) and the Topography of the Devil’s Arse Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Über Autor(innen)

Mary Ellen Lamb is Professor in the department of English, Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Illinois, USA. She is the author of Gender and Authorship in the Sidney Circle, and has published widely in journals such as Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Survey, English Literary Renaissance, Review of English Studies, Spenser Studies and Criticism. She is currently editor of the Sidney Journal.
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA