Iconography on the Early Modern Stage. CONNOLLY, Annaliese F
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Princes set on stages : Iconography on the early modern stage. CONNOLLY, Annaliese F. Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/19496/ This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version CONNOLLY, Annaliese F. (2008). Princes set on stages : Iconography on the early modern stage. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom).. Copyright and re-use policy See http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive http://shura.shu.ac.uk j Sheffield Halls m University \ Learning a«tr ? T Services j Adsetts Centre City Campus Sheffield SI 1WB REFERENCE ProQuest Number: 10694377 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Princes set on stages: Royal Iconography on the Early Modern Stage Annaliese Connolly A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2008 Princes set on stages: Royal Iconography on the Early Modern Stage Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Sheffield Hallam University, July 2008 This thesis constitutes a critical investigation into the scholarship into the iconography of Queen Elizabeth I in the light of developments in critical theory and practice over the last thirty years. It provides a survey of the ways in which the term iconography as used to refer to the image of Elizabeth has been deployed, reconceived and adapted in early modem scholarship. The thesis therefore takes account of older historicising approaches to the Queen’s image provided by the Cult of Elizabeth, as well as more recent work influenced by poststructuralist criticism. My methodology is influenced by these two related critical traditions. It does however, situate its discussion of the three chosen figurings of Elizabeth as King David, Queen Dido and the moon goddess Cynthia within a discourse of Elizabethan power. Here my discussion of the politics of representation builds on the work of Louis Montrose and Susan Frye, as I argue that each of these allegorised images of the Queen provides the locus for the struggle to control the meanings assigned to the Queen’s person. Since the concept of a discourse of Elizabethan power consists of those instances where the power relations between Elizabeth and her subjects are made manifest, the discussion of each of the three selected personae is not restricted to the visual or literary expression of these images in portraits, poems or plays, but investigates their deployment in the speeches and prayers of the Elizabeth herself, as well as in the sermons, polemics and literature of her subjects. It does so in order to trace the methods by which the royal image was fashioned and then appropriated by subjects who then used it to serve their own ends. The thesis focuses upon the ways in which biblical and classical figures and their mythographies contributed to this process of re-presenting the Queen. Finally, the organisation of the thesis into three case studies and the choice of both biblical and classical personae emphasise its diachronic approach to Elizabeth’s iconography. This methodology provides a corrective to the monological approach to the Queen’s image adopted by both historicist and New Historicists alike, who have persisted in using the Queen’s virginity as a lens through which to view her entire reign. The thesis argues that Elizabeth’s iconography developed in response to specific events and shifts in policy and therefore offers analysis of how the Queen’s image was used at specific pressure points during her reign. In this way the thesis makes an important contribution to scholarship in this field. Procedures and Abbreviations This thesis has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines laid out in the MHRA Style Guide (London: Modem Humanities Research Association, 2002). Unless otherwise stated early modem printed texts are cited from facsimiles in the database Early English Books Online, http://eebo.chadwyck.com. Texts are cited in old-spelling, but in keeping with MHRA guidelines on early printed books I have regularised some of the printing features in relation to the letters: i,j, u and v and have silently expanded contractions: The spelling of quotations is always that of the book or edition referred to. Note, however, that in quotations from early printed books the forms of the letters i and j, u and v, the long s, the ampersand (&), the Tironian sign (7), the tilde, superior letters in contractions, and other abbreviations are normalized to modem usage unless there are good reasons to the contrary, as, for example, in full bibliographical descriptions.1 I have standardised the capitalisation of the titles of early modem printed texts following MHRA guidelines. In the case of early modem printed plays these are cited from the following modem editions. Lyly and Marlowe are cited from the Revels edition. Shakespeare is cited from the Bevington Complete Works, while Jonson is cited from the edition of Herford, Simpson and Simpson. For the sake of clarity speech-prefixes are expanded, standardised and capitalised, and stage directions are consistently italicised. When I have cited material from the introductions to the editions of plays I have made this clear in the notes and have been careful to distinguish between the edition I will be quoting from and those whose introductory material I have included. References to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and to the Oxford English Dictionary are, implicitly, to the online editions as they stood in May 2008. 1 MHRA Style Guide: A Handbook for Authors, Editors, and Writers o f Theses (London: Modem Humanities Research Association, 2002), p. 14. Princes set on stages: Royal Iconography on the Early Modern Stage Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter One: ‘King David “the lamp of Israel”: A Biblical Paradigm for Elizabeth I*. Chapter Two: ‘Thou shalt be Dido’s son’: Perspectives on Virgilian Myth in Lyly, Marlowe and Shakespeare. Chapter Three: “‘Cleare pearle of heaven, and, not to bee farther ambitious in titles, Cynthia”: Elizabeth I and the Mythography of the Moon Goddess’. Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Candidate’s Statement Princes set on stages: Royal Iconography on the Early Modern Stage As stated in the abstract this thesis constitutes a critical investigation into the scholarship into the iconography of Queen Elizabeth I in the light of developments in critical theory and practice over the last thirty years. It provides a survey of the ways in which the term iconography as used to refer to the image of Elizabeth has been deployed, reconceived and adapted in early modem scholarship. The thesis focuses upon allegorical representations of the Queen in order to trace the methods by which the royal image was fashioned and then appropriated by subjects who then used it to serve their own ends. The thesis focuses upon the ways in which biblical and classical figures and their mythographies contributed to this process of re presenting the Queen. The organisation of the thesis into three case studies of examples of both biblical and classical personae used for the Queen, including King David, Queen Dido and Cynthia emphasises its diachronic approach to Elizabeth’s iconography. This methodology provides a corrective to the monological approach to the Queen’s image adopted by both historicist and New Historicists alike, who have persisted in using the Queen’s virginity as a lens through which to view her entire reign. The thesis argues that Elizabeth’s iconography developed in response to specific events and shifts in policy and therefore offers analysis of how the Queen’s image was used at specific pressure points during her reign. Material in Chapter One has already been published as an essay called ‘Peele’s David and Bethsabe: Reconsidering Biblical Drama of the Long 1590s’, Early Modern Literary Studies, 13.2 (October 2007): 9.1-20 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/si- 16/connpeel.htm>. Material from Chapter Two on Lyly’s Midas has been published as an essay called ‘“O unquenchable thirst of gold”: Lyly’s Midas and the English quest for Empire’, Early Modern Literary Studies 8.2 (September 2002): 4.1-36 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/08-2/conngold.htmll>. Finally, material on Dido, Queen of Carthage and A Midsummer Night's Dream from chapter Two has been published as an essay ‘Evaluating Virginity: A Midsummer Night's Dream and the iconography of marriage’, in Goddesses and Queens: The iconography of Elizabeth I, ed. by Annaliese Connolly and Lisa Hopkins ( Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007), pp. 136- 153. List of Illustrations Illustration 1. Thomas Bentley’s The Monument o f Matrones Conteining Seven Several Lamps ofVirginitie (1582). Engraving opposite page 862. Image reproduced from the original in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Illustration 2. A Booke o f Christian Prayers (1578). Title page. Image reproduced from the original in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Illustration 3. A Booke o f Christian Prayers (London: J.