Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A brilliant and provocative reinterpretation of Shakespeare's largely forgotten epic poems, and the political controversy they incited. As the year 1600 approached, unrest was stirring in post-Reformation England. The people pitted themselves against Queen Elizabeth, questioning the monarchy and exploring republicanism. Amidst this tension, William Shakespeare published a pair of epic poems dedicated to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, which would quickly become bestsellers: Venus of Adonis in 1593 and The Rape of Lucrece one year later. Although wildly popular during Shakespeare's lifetime, both works are rarely studied today.
To modern readers, the epics are meandering, dense, and seemingly uneventful. But in her engaging new book, leading Shakespearean scholar Clare Asquith reveals the provocative political message that would have been obvious and compelling to Shakespeare's contemporaneous readers: Just as Lucrece had been degraded, England had been violated by a turbulent and tyrannical monarchy. Henry VIII and his successors had stolen the property and possessions of the English people and their religious institutions--making away with 25,000 square miles of land and countless priceless pieces of art, jewelry, books, and more.
At the heart of this cultural upheaval, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece gave England's restless and disenfranchised populous exactly what it was looking for: an authoritative historical analysis that justified--and even urged--direct action against the Tudors. A fascinating narrative history rooted in original scholarship and groundbreaking interpretations, Shakespeare and the Resistance is the definitive account of Shakespeare's political poems and the dramatic reactions they incited.
Synopsis
A brilliant and provocative reinterpretation of Shakespeare's largely forgotten narrative poems, and the political controversy behind them
In the final decade of the sixteenth century, unrest was stirring in Elizabethan England. The queen was old, the succession unclear, and the country out of money. Amidst this tension, William Shakespeare published a pair of narrative poems dedicated to the young Earl of Southampton: Venus and Adonis in 1593 and The Rape of Lucrece one year later.
Although wildly popular during Shakespeare's lifetime, to modern readers both works are meandering, impenetrable, and dull. But in her vivid new book, the Shakespearean scholar Clare Asquith reveals the poems' provocative political messages that would have gripped Shakespeare's original readers. Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece gave England's restless populace and sidelined nobility exactly what they were looking for: an authoritative historical analysis that justified--and even urged--direct action against the Tudor regime.
Shakespeare and the Resistance is a compelling account of the political and religious fissures of Shakespeare's era, and of the crisis of allegiance that would shortly erupt in armed rebellion on the streets of London, foreshadowing the divisions that would drag the country into civil war.
Synopsis
Shakespeare's largely misunderstood narrative poems contain within them an explosive commentary on the political storms convulsing his country. The 1590s were black years for England. The queen was old, the succession unclear, and the treasury empty after decades of war. Amid the rising tension, William Shakespeare published a pair of poems dedicated to the young Earl of Southampton: Venus and Adonis in 1593 and The Rape of Lucrece a year later.
Although wildly popular during Shakespeare's lifetime, to modern readers both works are almost impenetrable. But in her enthralling new book, the Shakespearean scholar Clare Asquith reveals their hidden contents: two politically charged allegories of Tudor tyranny that justified--and even urged--direct action against an unpopular regime. The poems were Shakespeare's bestselling works in his lifetime, evidence that they spoke clearly to England's wounded populace and disaffected nobility, and especially to their champion, the Earl of Essex.
Shakespeare and the Resistance unearths Shakespeare's own analysis of a political and religious crisis which would shortly erupt in armed rebellion on the streets of London. Using the latest historical research, it resurrects the story of a bold bid for freedom of conscience and an end to corruption which was erased from history by the men who suppressed it. This compelling reading situates Shakespeare at the heart of the resistance movement, and sees him correctly identifying the factors that would before long plunge the country into civil war.