The English Renaissance 1500-1620
Blackwell Guides to Literature
1. Edition September 2000
336 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This lively and stimulating book guides students through the
historical contexts, key figures, texts, themes and issues in
sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century English literature. The
English Renaissance, 1500-1620 sets out the historical and
cultural contexts of Renaissance England, highlighting the
background voices and events which influenced literary production,
including the Reformation, the British problem, perceptions of
other cultures and the voyages to the Americas.
A series of short biographical essays on the key writers of the
period explain their significance, and explore a variety of
perspectives with which to approach them. In-depth analyses of a
number of well-studied texts are also provided, indicating why each
text is important and suggesting ways in which each might usefully
be read. Texts featured include Astrophil and Stella, Othello,
Utopia, Dr Faustus, The Tragedy of Miriam, The Unfortunate
Traveller and the Faerie Queene.
The volume charts the intricacies of English Renaissance
literature, taking in a variety of themes including women, gender
and the question of homosexuality; the stage; printing and
censorship; humanism and education and rhetoric. Attention is also
drawn to current debates in Renaissance criticism such as New
Historicism and Cultural Materialism, thus the book provides
students with an unparalleled foundation for further study.
Fully cross-referenced, with a useful chronology, glossary and
suggestions for further reading, this much-needed guide conveys the
excitement of reading Renaissance literature.
List of Illustrations.
Chronology.
Introduction.
A History of the English Renaissance.
Political and Religious Developments.
The British Isles.
Exploration, Discovery, and Colonisation in the Americas.
1.Writers.
2.Key Texts.
3.Topics.
Guide to Further Reading.
Glossary.
Index.
acheives the author's intention, clearly set out in a preamble, to
provide essentials to readers new to the territory. It is divided
into helpful sections, providing a succint historical overview of
the period and of major religious, political, exploratory and
colonising movements. And it is written in lucid, jargon-free
prose. Hadfield's book is a leader in its field." Times Higher
Education Supplement
"This guide will be useful precisely because it is a supplement
to (and not a substitute for) the primary materials from the
period. It self-consciously raises the proper questions not only
for the authors and texts it includes, but also for the very
process involved in making those selections. As such, it is a guide
that can lead undergraduate students profitably through the Dark
Wood of English Renaissance literature, as well as the critical
debates generated by the literature." Reference
Reviews
"Andrew Hadfield's The English Renaissance, 1500-1620 in
the series Blackwell Guides to Literature - lucid little
introductions to issues, authors, and texts, aimed at the
undergraduate but also useful for Ph.D. students - is remarkable
because he wrote it all himself." Studies in English
Literature
"What makes these pieces particularly useful in one's teaching
is that they are short but also insightful and provocative. They
therefore manage to be accessible to students and to exemplify the
kind of work that one would seriously expect one's students to
aspire to. ... The English Renaissance 1500-1620 is an
informative work and an engaging read. I hope that it will be
appearing under the heading of required secondary reading in
undergraduate module and course guides for many years to come."
English: The Journal of the English Association
