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The first study of legal reform and literature in early modern EnglandThis book investigates rhetorical and representational practices that were used to monitor English law at the turn of the seventeenth century. The late-Elizabethan and early-Jacobean surge in the policies and enforcement of the reformation of manners has been well-documented. What has gone unnoticed, however, is the degree to which the law itself was the focus of reform for legislators, the judiciary, preachers, and writers alike. While the majority of law and literature studies characterize the law as a force of coercion and subjugation, this book instead treats in greater depth the law's own vulnerability, both to corruption and to correction. In readings of Spenser's 'Faerie Queene', the 'Gesta Grayorum', Donne's 'Satyre V', and Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure' and 'The Winter's Tale', Strain argues that the terms and techniques of legal reform provided modes of analysis through which legal authorities and literary writers alike imagined and evaluated form and character. Key FeaturesReevaluates canonical writers in light of developments in legal historical research, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to works Collects an extensive variety of legal, political, and literary sources to reconstruct the discourse on early modern legal reform, providing an introduction to a topic that is currently underrepresented in early modern legal cultural studiesAnalyses the laws own vulnerability to individual agency
Renaissance Poetics and the Shaping of Early Modern Identity A Study in Literary Evolution and Cultural Transformation This volume offers a comprehensive examination of the evolving landscape of English Renaissance poetry, tracing its development from the Petrarchan models inherited from the medieval period through to the complex, self-aware lyricism that characterized the Jacobean era. Far from being a static period of imitation, the Renaissance witnessed a dynamic and often fraught negotiation between established classical authority and burgeoning native ingenuity. This study argues that the poetic shifts of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are intrinsically linked to profound transformations in how the English conceived of the self, the nature of knowledge, and the very purpose of artistic endeavor. The initial chapters focus on the foundational influence of Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella. We move beyond standard readings of Petrarchan conceit to analyze how Sidney meticulously constructs a persona whose very articulation of desire reveals an emerging modern subjectivity—one characterized by irony, epistemological doubt, and a sophisticated self-consciousness regarding the act of writing itself. This is not merely a sequence about unrequited love; it is a critical interrogation of the limits of courtly language when confronted with intense, personalized emotion. The tension between the poet’s public role and private feeling becomes a central thematic concern, setting the stage for subsequent poetic explorations. The analysis then pivots to the complex relationship between imitation and innovation, focusing particularly on the figure of Edmund Spenser. Spenser is treated not simply as an admirer of Virgil and Chaucer, but as a deliberate synthesizer whose ambition was to forge a distinctly English epic tradition capable of rivaling those of antiquity. We delve deeply into The Faerie Queene, dissecting its allegorical structure not just as a moral roadmap, but as a political and theological argument. The sheer scale of Spenser’s project necessitates a deep dive into his creation of archaic diction and convoluted syntax—techniques employed not for quaintness, but to elevate the vernacular to a level traditionally reserved for Latin and Greek, thereby asserting England's cultural parity with older civilizations. The challenges inherent in sustaining such an immense, heavily moralized narrative are explored, charting how the very density of his allegory becomes both his greatest strength and a source of significant critical difficulty for later readers. A significant portion of the book is dedicated to the poetry of John Donne and the metaphysical school, viewing their intellectual gymnastics as a direct response to the religious and scientific turbulence of the late Elizabethan and early Stuart periods. Donne’s genius lies in his ability to domesticate grand philosophical questions within the intimate space of the love poem or the religious meditation. We examine the function of the ‘conceit’—the elaborate, often startling metaphor—as a mode of intellectual persuasion. Rather than viewing these as mere displays of wit, this study posits the conceit as a necessary tool for mapping a newly complex cosmos where fixed hierarchical certainties were dissolving. His Holy Sonnets, for instance, reveal a speaker wrestling not with easy faith, but with the terrifying possibility of divine absence, forcing the reader into an uncomfortable proximity with spiritual crisis. The exploration extends to the development of the solitary lyric and the patronage system. How did poets navigate the shift from serving a grand, unifying courtly vision to addressing a smaller, more discerning readership? The professionalization of authorship, however nascent, created new anxieties concerning authenticity and commercial viability. We analyze the impact of printed miscellanies and the circulation of manuscript culture, demonstrating how these varied modes of distribution shaped the form and content of poems intended for specific, often private, audiences. The inherent tension between the desire for lasting fame (monumentality) and the ephemeral nature of the manuscript exchange (intimacy) forms a crucial sub-theme here. Furthermore, the book incorporates a comparative analysis of the presentation of gender and sexuality within the poetry. While acknowledging the overwhelming patriarchal structures of the age, we investigate the moments where female voices, either direct or imagined, challenge or subvert established conventions. The evolution of the sonnet sequence from Astrophil’s dominance to the more collaborative or adversarial dynamics found in later sequences is mapped as a subtle indicator of shifting societal perceptions regarding female agency and intellectual parity. Finally, the study concludes by examining the late Renaissance turn toward satire and the emergence of the distinctly public, critical poetic voice exemplified by figures such as Marston and Hall. This shift signals a dissatisfaction with the loftier ambitions of Spenserian epic and the personal intensity of Donne’s introspection. Satire becomes a means of imposing order—often brutally—upon a world perceived as degenerating, reflecting a widespread cultural anxiety about court corruption and social fragmentation. By charting this trajectory—from courtly aspiration to spiritual crisis to social critique—this volume illustrates that Renaissance poetry was never merely decorative; it was the essential laboratory where the emerging modern English self was rigorously tested, defined, and expressed. The result is a nuanced understanding of how literary innovation served as a vital engine for cultural self-fashioning during one of England’s most transformative eras.