The advent of relatively cheap editions in the mid-sixteenth century produced an explosion of verse, much of which represented the first person speaker as a version of the author. This book examines ways in which writers, often seeking advancement in their careers, harnessed verse for self-promotional purposes. Texts studied include a manuscript autobiography by Thomas Whythorne, printed verse by a woman, Isabella Whitney, travel and war narratives, as well as canonical texts by Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare.

Autorentext

ELIZABETH HEALE is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Reading University. She has published two books, The Faerie Queene. A Reader's Guide (2nd ed 1999) and Wyatt, Surrey and Early Tudor Poetry (1998), and numerous articles on sixteenth-century verse in print and manuscript.

Zusammenfassung
The advent of relatively cheap printed editions of verse in the mid-sixteenth century produced an explosion of verse, much of which represented the first person speaker as a version of the author. This book examines the way in which writers, often seeking advancement in their careers, harnessed the powers of verse and print for self-promotional purposes. Close attention to the self-constructions of these writers reveals conflicts and contradictions in available models of the self, as well as doubts about the powers of verse to express the inner self. Texts studied include: an extraordinary manuscript autobiography by Thomas Whythorne; printed verse by a woman, Isabella Whitney; an erotic romance by George Gascoigne, hailed as the first 'novel' in English; little known but memorable narratives of travel to Russia and Africa, and of the experience of war; as well as more canonical works by Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare

Inhalt

Introduction 'To Mak My Self to be Known of Many': Miscellanies and the Well-Formed Gentleman The 'Outward Marks' and the 'Inward Man: Thomas Whythorne's Songs and Sonnets Narratives of Experience Spenser as Orpheus Passionate Ejaculations and the Poetics of Presence: Gascoigne's The Adventures of Master F.J. and Sidney's Astrophil and Stella 'My Name is Will': Shakespeare's Sonnets Bibliography