The Movement Towards Subversion: The English History Play from Skelton to Shakespeare

by Eric Sterling

Overview

The Movement Towards Subversion explores the theme of power in the Renaissance English history play. It analyzes the growing subversion of the sociopolitical hierarchy in Renaissance drama from Skelton's "Magnificence" to Shakespeare's "King Lear". Unlike most scholarship, this book studies the lesser-known, often neglected dramas plus some familiar "canonical" works. These plays tell us a lot about political and religious attitudes in sixteenth-century England. Instead of discussing the plays in regard to their relationships with and influences upon Shakespearean drama, the author analyzes the plays on their own terms. This book also shows how dramatists employ medieval history in their plays to express subversive ideas about Tudor political situations.

Author Biography: Eric Sterling is Assistant Professor of English at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761804482
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	08/15/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.66(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Eric Sterling is Assistant Professor of English at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama.

What People are Saying About This

John T. Shawcross

"...he is offering readings which fit nicely into our historical concerns with the past. The readings of Shakespeare's plays, particularly of "King Lear", should be happily received by those of us who have taught them often. The scholarship is up-to-date and the prose is most readable."
— John T. Shawcross

Editorial Reviews

Sterling reads the plays intelligently and his research into their historical context is effective in bringing out important topical resonances...Sterling is undoubtedly right.
— John T. Shawcross, University of Kentucky

Studies In English Literature

Sterling reads the plays intelligently and his research into their historical context is effective in bringing out important topical resonances...Sterling is undoubtedly right.

John T. Shawcross