Voyage drama and gender politics, 1589-1642
Book Description
This scholarly exploration reveals how Renaissance playwrights used distant voyages and foreign encounters as mirrors for examining power, identity, and social transformation at home. Claire Jowitt demonstrates how travel dramas from 1589 to 1642 functioned as sophisticated political commentary, weaving together themes of gender roles, colonial ambition, and resistance to authority.
Through careful analysis of both well-known and overlooked theatrical works, this study uncovers how dramatists encoded critiques of Tudor and Stuart monarchs within stories of adventure and exploration. The book examines how characters who challenged conventional gender behavior, engaged in piracy, or adopted foreign customs served as allegorical figures representing broader tensions within British society.
Jowitt's research illuminates the complex relationship between geographic drama and domestic politics during a pivotal period of English expansion. She shows how playwrights used exotic settings and unconventional characters to explore questions of national identity, colonial enterprise, and social change that resonated deeply with contemporary audiences.
This work offers valuable insights for readers interested in how literature reflects and shapes cultural attitudes toward exploration, power, and social boundaries. By connecting theatrical representations of distant lands with immediate political concerns, the book reveals how Renaissance drama served as both entertainment and sophisticated social commentary, providing a window into the anxieties and ambitions of an expanding nation.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~7 hours)
📄 Length: 256 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Exoticism in literature
- ✓ Explore History and criticism
- ✓ Explore In literature
- ✓ Explore English drama
- ✓ Explore English literature
- ✓ Explore English drama, history and criticism, early modern and elizabethan, 1500-1600
- ✓ Explore Foreign countries in literature
- ✓ Explore Allegory
