E-Book Overview
This volume offers a description of early modern habits of writing and reading, of publication and stage performance, and of political and religious writing. An introduction to early modern English literature for students and general readers. Considers the ways in which early modern writers construct the past, recover and adapt classical genres, write about people and places, and tackle religious and secular controversies. Illustrated with a profusion of excerpts from early modern texts. Writers represented include More, Erasmus, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton, as well as less well known authors.
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Renaissance and Reformations RARA01 1 29/8/05, 3:02 PM Blackwell Introductions to Literature This series sets out to provide concise and stimulating introductions to literary subjects. It offers books on major authors (from John Milton to James Joyce), as well as key periods and movements (from Old English literature to the contemporary). Coverage is also afforded to such specific topics as ‘Arthurian Romance’. All are written by outstanding scholars as texts to inspire newcomers and others: non-specialists wishing to revisit a topic, or general readers. The prospective overall aim is to ground and prepare students and readers of whatever kind in their pursuit of wider reading. Published 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 RARA01 John Milton Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales Arthurian Romance James Joyce Mark Twain The Modern Novel Old Norse-Icelandic Literature Old English Literature Modernism Latin American Fiction Re-scripting Walt Whitman Renaissance and Reformations The Art of Twentieth-century American Poetry 2 Roy Flannagan John Hirsh Derek Pearsall Michael Seidel Stephen Railton Jesse Matz Heather O’Donoghue Daniel Donoghue David Ayers Philip Swanson Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price Michael Hattaway Charles Altieri 29/8/05, 3:02 PM Renaissance and Reformations An Introduction to Early Modern English Literature Michael Hattaway RARA01 3 29/8/05, 3:02 PM © 2005 by Michael Hattaway BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Michael Hattaway to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2005 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hattaway, Michael. Renaissance and reformations : an introduction to early modern English literature / Michael Hattaway. p. cm.—(Blackwell introductions to literature) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0044-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-0044-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0045-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-0045-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. English literature—Early modern, 1500–1700—History and criticism. 2. Renaissance—England. 3. Reformation—England. I. Title. II. Series. PR421.H27 2005 820.9’003—dc22 2005006591 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10/13pt Meridien by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd, Kundli The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free