Courteous exchanges explores the significant overlap between Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene and Shakespeare's plays, showing how both facilitate the critique of Renaissance aristocratic identity. Moving from a consideration of Castiglione's Book of the Courtier as a text that encouraged reader engagement, the book offers new readings of Shakespeare's plays in conjunction with Spenser. It pairs Love's Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, and The Winter's Tale with The Faerie Queene in order to explore how topics such as education, gender, religion, race, and aristocratic identity are offered up to reader and audience interpretation.
By:
Patricia Wareh
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 482g
ISBN: 9781526149855
ISBN 10: 1526149850
Series: The Manchester Spenser
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 09 July 2024
Audience:
Adult education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: Courteous exchanges: Spenser’s and Shakespeare's gentle dialogues with readers and audiences 1 Imprinting and performance in Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier 2 Playing by the rules? Pedagogies of pleasure and inset audiences in Spenser’s Faerie Queene and Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost 3 Honorable action upstaged by theatrical wordplay in The Faerie Queene and Much Ado About Nothing 4 Courteous competitions: Blood, gold, and outward shows in Nennio, Spenser’s Book of Courtesy, and The Merchant of Venice 5 Literary mirrors of aristocratic performance: Readers and audiences of The Faerie Queene and The Winter’s Tale Conclusion: Courteous farewells in Spenser and Shakespeare Index -- .
Patricia Wareh is Associate Professor of English at Union College
Reviews for Courteous Exchanges: Spenser's and Shakespeare's Gentle Dialogues with Readers and Audiences
‘Courteous exchanges is a needed addition to not only Spenser studies and Shakespeare studies but also the study of courtly rhetoric and performance.’ —John Garrison, Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme ‘A number of critical conversations ought to change in response to Courteous exchanges.’ —Vincent Mennella, Spenser Review -- .
