Engendering a Nation: A Feminist Account of Shakespeare's English Histories

ISBN-13: 9780415047487 / Angielski / Twarda / 1997 / 266 str.

Jean E. Howard;Phyllis Rackin;Jean E. Howard

Opis

This text adopts a feminist analysis to examine the place of gender in contesting representations of nationhood in early modern England. Taking the Shakespearean history play as their point fo departure, the authors argue that the change from dynastic kingdom to modern nation was integrally connected to shifts in cultural understandings of gender, and in the social roles available to men and women. The cultural centrality of the Elizabethan theatre made it an important arena for staging the diverse and contradictory elements of this transition. Plays featured include: King John; Henry VI, Part I; Henry VI, Part II; Henry VI, Part III; Richard III; Richard II; and Henry V.

Engendering a Nation adopts a sophisticated feminist analysis to examine the place of gender in contesting representations of nationhood in early modern England. Plays featured include:

* King John
* Henry VI, Part I
* Henry VI, Part II
* Henry, Part III
* Richard III
* Richard II
* Henry V.

It will be a must for students and scholars interested in the cultural and social implications of Shakespeare today.

Recenzje

'This is good Shakespearean scholarship from a feminist aspect ... or maybe good feminist scholarship from a Shakespearean standpoint?' - Fawcett Library Newsletter

Spis treści

Part I: Making Gender Visible: A Re-Viewing of Shakespeare's History Plays 1. Thoroughly Modern Henry 2. The History Play in Shakespeare's Time 3. Feminism, Women, and the Shakespearean History Play 4. The Theater as Institution Notes. Part II: Weak Kings, Warrior Women, and the Assault on Dynastic Authority: The First Tetralogy and King John 1. Henry VI, Part I 2. Henry VI, Part II 3. Henry VI, Part III 4. Richard III 5. King John. Notes. Part III: Gender and Nation: Anticipations of Modernity in the Second Tetralogy 1. Richard II 2. The Henry IV plays 3. Henry V Notes. Bibilography. Index.

O autorze

Jean E. Howard, Phyllis Rackin