Voices of Shakespeare's England: Contemporary Accounts of Elizabethan Daily Life

Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 16
Introduction: Shakespeare’s England......Page 18
Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents......Page 28
Chronology of English History from the Birth of Elizabeth I to the Death of William Shakespeare, 1533–1616......Page 36
Society and Economy......Page 48
1. An Englishman Claims Land in Elizabethan Ireland: The Life and Times of Sir Peter Carew (1568)......Page 50
2. The Sword of Elizabethan Education: Roger Ascham’s The Schoolmaster (1570)......Page 56
3. English Women: Accounts of Male English Observers (1550, 1577)......Page 60
4. English Women: Accounts of Male Foreign Observers (1575, 1585)......Page 66
5. High Rents and Hard Times for Land Tenants: William Harrison’s Description of England (1577)......Page 72
6. The Cost of Defending the Realm: The Forced Loan of 1588......Page 76
7. The Elizabethan Underworld: Robert Greene’s Cony-Catching Pamphlets (1592)......Page 80
8. The Dangers of Lengthy Leases for Land Tenants: Thomas Wilson’s The State of England, Anno Dom. 1600 (1600)......Page 86
9. A Piece of Elizabethan Self-Promotion: William Kempe’s Nine Days Wonder (1600)......Page 90
10. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601......Page 94
Church and State......Page 98
11. The Powers of Parliament: Sir Thomas Smith’s De Republica Anglorum (1565)......Page 100
12. Government Control of the Printing Press: Star Chamber Censorship Ordinances (1566, 1586) and Philip Stubbs’ Comments on Censorship (1593)......Page 104
13. Who May Summon Parliament and Why: John Hooker’s Order and Usage (1571)......Page 110
14. Protecting Queen and Realm from Catholic Plots: Letter of the Bishop of London to Lord Burghley (1572)......Page 114
15. An Illegal Celebration of the Catholic Mass: Letters from the Bishop of London to Lord Burghley and the Earl of Leicester (1573)......Page 120
16. Criticizing the Queen: Peter Wentworth’s Speech in the House of Commons (1576)......Page 126
17. A Description of the New World: The First Expedition to Sir Walter Raleigh’s Virginia (1584)......Page 130
18. The Destruction of the Spanish Armada: News Accounts from Ireland (1588)......Page 136
19. Priest Hunters Search a House for Hidden Catholic Clergy: John Gerard’s Autobiography (1591)......Page 140
20. Defending the Elizabethan Church: Richard Hooker’s Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593)......Page 144
Literature and History......Page 148
21. Criticizing Elizabethan Playgoers: Stephen Gosson’s School of Abuse (1579)......Page 150
22. A Contemporary Description of Elizabethan England: John Lyly’s Novel Euphues and His England (1580)......Page 154
23. An Elizabethan Defense of Poets and Their Work: Sir Philip Sidney’s Treatise “An Apology for Poetry” (1581)......Page 160
24. William Shakespeare and His Sources: The Second Edition of Holinshed’s Chronicle (1587) and Richard III (c. 1592–1593)......Page 166
25. Extolling the Reign of Gloriana: Introduction to Book IV of Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene (1596)......Page 172
26. William Shakespeare’s Commentary on Contemporary Acting: Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2 (c. 1600–1601)......Page 176
27. The Changing Character of Elizabethan Theater: Playwright Thomas Middleton from the Introduction to His Play The Roaring Girl (1611)......Page 180
28. Elizabethan Sonnets: The Earl of Oxford’s “Love Thy Choice” (c. 1576) and William Shakespeare’s Sonnets 116 and 150 (1609)......Page 184
29. Accounts of Performances of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1610) and A Winter’s Tale (1611): The Diary of Dr. Simon Forman......Page 190
30. Writing the History of Elizabeth’s Reign: William Camden’s The History of the Most Renowned and Victorious Princess Elizabeth (1615)......Page 194
The Queen......Page 198
31. The Queen on Progress: Robert Laneham’s Account of the Queen’s Entertainment by the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth Castle (1575)......Page 200
32. The Queen’s Marriage: Pros and Cons of the Proposed Match with the Duke of Anjou (1579)......Page 204
33. Elizabeth the Poet Laments the Final Leave-Taking of the Duke of Anjou: “On Monsieur’s Departure” (1582)......Page 210
34. Protecting the Protestant Queen: The Bond of Association (1584–1585)......Page 214
35. The Death of a Queen: Richard Wigmore’s Description of the Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1587)......Page 220
36. “The Serpent That Poisons Me”: Elizabeth’s Letters to James VI of Scotland on the Execution of His Mother (1587–1588)......Page 226
37. Turning English Catholics against the Queen: Cardinal William Allen’s An Admonition to the Nobility and People of England (1588)......Page 232
38. Elizabeth Defies the King of Spain: Dr. Lionel Sharp’s Version of the Queen’s Speech to Her Army at Tilbury Camp (1588)......Page 236
39. The Queen’s Valedictory: Elizabeth’s “Golden Speech” (1601)......Page 240
40. A Look Back at Elizabeth’s Coronation: Sir John Hayward’s Annals of the First Four Years of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1612)......Page 246
Appendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in Text......Page 250
Appendix 2: Glossary of Terms Mentioned in Text......Page 274
Bibliography......Page 280
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W......Page 307