This book is an exploration of the viability of applying the post structuralist theory of intertextuality to early modern texts. It suggests that a return to a more theorised understanding of intertextuality, as that outlined by Julia Kristeva and Roland Barthes, is more productive than an interpretation which merely identifies ‘source’ texts. The book analyses several key early modern texts through this lens, arguing that the period’s conscious focus on and prioritisation of the creative imitation of classical and contemporary European texts makes it a particularly fertile era for...