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Sidney, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethans in Caroline England

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Sidney, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethans in Caroline England Textual Ghosts: Sidney, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethans in Caroline England Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Rachel Ellen Clark, M.A. English Graduate Program The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Richard Dutton, Advisor Christopher Highley Alan Farmer Copyright by Rachel Ellen Clark 2011 Abstract This dissertation argues that during the reign of Charles I (1625-42), a powerful and long-lasting nationalist discourse emerged that embodied a conflicted nostalgia and located a primary source of English national identity in the Elizabethan era, rooted in the works of William Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, John Lyly, and Ben Jonson. This Elizabethanism attempted to reconcile increasingly hostile conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, court and country, and elite and commoners. Remarkably, as I show by examining several Caroline texts in which Elizabethan ghosts appear, Caroline authors often resurrect long-dead Elizabethan figures to articulate not only Puritan views but also Arminian and Catholic ones. This tendency to complicate associations between the Elizabethan era and militant Protestantism also appears in Caroline plays by Thomas Heywood, Philip Massinger, and William Sampson that figure Queen Elizabeth as both ideally Protestant and dangerously ambiguous. Furthermore, Caroline Elizabethanism included reprintings and adaptations of Elizabethan literature that reshape the ideological significance of the Elizabethan era. The 1630s quarto editions of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan comedies The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, and Love’s Labour’s Lost represent the Elizabethan era as the source of a native English wit that bridges social divides and negotiates the ii roles of powerful women (a renewed concern as Queen Henrietta Maria became more conspicuous at court). Similarly, poetic and dramatic adaptations of Sidney’s Arcadia by Francis Quarles, Henry Glapthorne, and James Shirley rewrite the romance’s politics to engage with contemporary debates about foreign policy. This dissertation ultimately contributes to early modern literary studies in three ways: first, it reclaims and nuances the literary and political sophistication of Caroline literature; second, it contests the narrative that casts the Elizabethan era as perennially opposed to the decadence of the Stuarts, instead showing how Caroline Elizabethanism sanctioned a proto-royalist literary and political culture and ideology that extended well beyond the court; and third, it reveals how Caroline writers and publishers began the process of literary canon formation as a way to negotiate what it meant to be English, linking nationalism with England’s literary heritage in debates that continue to resonate today. iii To my family, by blood and by choice iv Acknowledgements Every graduate student needs a strong support network, and I am incredibly grateful for mine. First, I would like to thank my committee. My advisor, Richard Dutton, always made himself available for chats, sometimes with tea, and invariably set me off running in a fruitful direction. His support has meant the world to me. Chris Highley first directed me toward the path that would lead to this dissertation by suggesting that I explore why Leicester’s Commonwealth was reprinted in 1641, and I have frequently found myself following in his scholarly footsteps. Alan Farmer read my work with enthusiasm and helped me to “see the forest” on a number of occasions. I am lucky to have worked with such generous and sharp-eyed scholars. I am also grateful to the rest of the Renaissance cohort in the English Department, both past and present: Hannibal Hamlin, Jennifer Higginbotham, John King, Phoebe Spinrad, Luke Wilson, Marisa Cull, Steve Galbraith, Erin Kelly, Erin McCarthy, Aaron Pratt, Mark Rankin, Anne-Marie Schuler, and Jeff Windsor. The discussions at Renaissance Dissertation Seminars and Renaissance Reading Groups illuminated new ideas and showed me what the academic community could look like at its best. Special thanks to Aaron Pratt for letting me look at his copy of the 1641 Leicester’s Commonwealth and for locating a secondhand copy of the STC for me. v I am grateful to the staffs of the Ohio State University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library and the Newberry Library. I also thank the Shakespeare Association of America for the award of a Graduate Student Travel Grant for the 2008 meeting. Special thanks are due to Doug Dangler, Dickie Selfe, Judy Kauffeld, and the rest of the staff at OSU’s Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, who made my five years working there utterly delightful. My generous and brilliant colleagues at Kenyon College have inspired me with their dedication to the profession, especially Adele Davidson, Ivonne García, Salinda Lewis, Ellen Mankoff, and Kim McMullen. Anne-Marie Schuler’s value as a work partner can only be eclipsed by her value as a friend. Our weekly work sessions kept me motivated and reinvigorated, and her feedback throughout the process of writing this dissertation has made it immeasurably better, just as her friendship improved the process itself. For the trips to Shakespeare in the Park, Renaissance movie nights, and innumerable conversations about teaching, scholarship, and life in general, I extend my heartfelt gratitude. I have been lucky to have many friends from my undergraduate career remain in Columbus for much of my Ph.D. Justin and Sarah Dill, Meg and Jeremy Fincher, Travis Fuller, Joel Harrington, Joy Kotheimer, Lynette and Eric Rosendaul, Andy and Julie Savageau, and Erica Weil have all cheered me on and celebrated milestones with me (and I with them). “Carmen, Ohio” is right: time and change have surely shown how firm these friendships are. There’s no one with whom I’d rather form a post-apocalyptic commune. vi Deneese Owen and Stacey Clemence, my dearest friends of all, rejoiced in my joys, commiserated with my frustrations, and always managed to talk me down from crisis mode. Since Stacey moved away, our triannual weekend reunions have been the highlights of each year. At the 2003 department Christmas party, Deneese and I bonded over a mutual love of Fawlty Towers, and our friendship has grown to become one of the most important parts of my life. As I was there for the birth of her child, Deneese has been there for the years-long labor of this dissertation. The Clemence-Dolzanis and the Owens have become my family by choice, and I will always be thankful for all of the laughter, delicious dinners, and thought-provoking discussions that we have shared. Finally, to my family, I am eternally and devoutly grateful. First, to my parents, Gary and Beth Clark: they started teaching me to read as soon as I could speak and to love books even before that. When as a kid I told them I wanted to be a writer, I never imagined writing a dissertation, but they have always believed in me, loved me, and encouraged me to succeed. My grandmother, Alice Hutchinson, has extended so much love and patience to me over the years, and I have cherished my time with her. My brother and sister-in-law, Nathan and Melanie Clark, have supported me throughout this process, from wherever the Army has taken one or both of them. And my uncle and aunt, Alan and Terri Hutchinson, have always encouraged me with great generosity to achieve my goals. I love you all, and I dedicate this work to you. vii Vita 1998................................................................Tree of Life Christian High School 2002................................................................B.A. English, The Ohio State University 2005................................................................M.A. English, The Ohio State University 2003-2007 ......................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of English, The Ohio State University 2007-2008 ......................................................Graduate Administrative Associate, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, The Ohio State University 2005-2010 ......................................................Graduate Administrative Associate, Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, The Ohio State University 2010-2011 ......................................................Visiting Instructor of English, Kenyon College Fields of Study Major Field: English viii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables and Figures....................................................................................................x List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... xi Introduction: Elizabethanism and Nostalgia ........................................................................1 Chapter 1: Elizabethan Ghosts in Caroline England..........................................................31 Chapter 2: “Englands Royall Besse”: Elizabeth
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