Research Catalog

Title

Imagining Cleopatra : performing gender and power in early modern England / Yasmin Arshad.

Author

Arshad, Yasmin

Publication

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xvii, 337 pages : illustrations; 21 cm.

Summary

"Shakespeare's characterization of Cleopatra may dominate the collective consciousness, but he was only one of several 16th-century writers fascinated by the enigmatic queen of Egypt. Early modern conceptions of Cleopatra offer a rich, complex, and variable set of models for understanding the period's responses to race, female sovereignty, and classical antiquity. This interdisciplinary study investigates images of Cleopatra in the early modern period and examines how her story was mediated and used - from drawing lessons from history to being a symbol of female heroism. It draws on early historiographical works, political and philosophical treatises, coterie dramatic productions, and gender, race and performance studies, as well as evidence from material culture, to consider what was known and thought about Cleopatra in the period This book provides a new literary and cultural history of one of the world's most contested and politically-charged iconic female figures. It combines a close reading of literary and dramatic works with historical and political contexts, paying particular attention to the three major early modern Cleopatra plays: Mary Sidney's translation of Robert Garnier's Marc Antoine, Samuel Daniel's The Tragedie of Cleopatra, and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. By examining these conflicting historical and fictional identities, Yasmin Arshad offers a diverse and ground-breaking study of Cleopatra's 'infinite variety'"--

Series Statement

• The Arden Shakespeare
• Arden studies in early modern drama

Uniform Title

• Arden Shakespeare (Critical studies)
• Arden studies in early modern drama.

Subjects

• Literature
• English drama > Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 > History and criticism
• Sex role in literature
• Women in literature
• Women heroes in literature
• Criticism, interpretation, etc
• Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, -30 B.C > In literature
• 1500-1600
• English drama > Early modern and Elizabethan

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Chapter 1: "Sight of that face": Passion and Politics in Mary Sidney's Antonius -- Chapter 2: "Twixt majestie confuz'd and miserie": Samuel Daniel's Tragedie of Cleopatra -- Chapter 3: "Will yet this womans stubborne heart be woone?": Lady Anne Clifford and Daniel's Cleopatra -- Chapter 4: "Then thus we have beheld": Staging Daniel's Cleopatra -- Chapter 5: "She did make defect perfection": The Paradox and Variety of Shakespeare's Cleopatra -- Chapter 6: Epilogue and Conclusion: Cleopatra after Shakespeare -- Appendix: The Cleopatra Statue and the Poems at the Vatican.

Call Number

JFD 20-966

ISBN

• 9781350058965
• 1350058963

LCCN

2019021054

OCLC

1060198780

Author

Arshad, Yasmin, author.

Title

Imagining Cleopatra : performing gender and power in early modern England / Yasmin Arshad.

Publisher

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

The Arden Shakespeare

Arden studies in early modern drama

Arden Shakespeare (Critical studies)

Arden studies in early modern drama.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1500-1600

Other Form:

Online version: Arshad, Yasmin, Imagining Cleopatra London ; New York Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. 9781350058972 (DLC) 2019981464

Research Call Number

JFD 20-966