
Satire in the Elizabethan Era
An Activistic Art
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Book Description
This book argues that the satire of the late Elizabethan period goes far beyond generic rhetorical persuasion, but is instead intentionally engaged in a literary mission of transideological "perceptual translation." This reshaping of cultural orthodoxies is interpreted in this study as both authentic and "activistic" in the sense that satire represents a purpose-driven attempt to build a consensual community devoted to genuine socio-cultural change. The book includes explorations of specific ideologically stabilizing satires produced before the Bishops’ Ban of 1599, as well as the attempt to return nihilistic English satire to a stabilizing theatrical form during the tumultuous end of the reign of Elizabeth I. Dr. Jones infuses carefully chosen, modern-day examples of satire alongside those of the Elizabethan Era, making it a thoughtful, vigorous read.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Satire and History. Chapter Two: Satire and Empire: Tracing the Ideological Encoding of English Renaissance Satire. Chapter Three: Satire Unchained. Chapter Four: Ganymedes, Amazons, and Termagants: Anti-Feminist Satires in the Bishops’ Ban. Chapter Five: Shakespearean Satire and London’s Inns of Court.
Author(s)
Biography
Dr. William R. Jones is an Associate Professor of English at Murray State University