Thomas Heywood and the Classical Tradition

(Hardback)

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The first in-depth consideration of Thomas Heywood's engagement with the classical world, this is a timely reappraisal of the notably diverse output of Heywood, his better-known works are discussed alongside critically neglected ones Illuminates the role of classics in shaping Heywood's political and theatrical agendas and his revisionary approach to gender.

This volume offers the first in-depth investigation of Thomas Heywood's engagement with the classics. Its introduction and twelve essays trace how the classics shaped Heywood's work in a variety of genres across a writing career of over forty years, ranging from drama, epic and epyllion, to translations, compendia and the design of a warship for Charles I. Close readings demonstrate the influence of a capaciously conceived classical tradition that included continental editions and translations of Latin and Greek texts, early modern mythographies and the medieval tradition of Troy. They attend to Heywood's thought-provoking imitations and juxtapositions of these sources, his use of myth to interrogate gender and heroism, and his turn to antiquity to celebrate and defamiliarise the theatrical or political present. Heywood's better-known works are discussed alongside critically neglected ones, making the collection valuable for undergraduates and researchers alike.

Reviews

'Thomas Heywood and the Classical Tradition addresses an important gap in our appreciation of how one of Shakespeares most prolific and unfairly denigrated contemporaries read and reworked the classics throughout his long literary career, which spanned the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I.

'All in all, this book vindicates an author who, often criticized for yoking together wildy different registers and styles, actually wore his classicism with great skill, originality and aplomb.'
Sonia Massai, Kings College London

'This edited collection revitalises research on Heywood by drawing together studies which elucidate important themes and practices that inform all his many writings. Alongside these significant findings are intricate details and close readings that illuminate neglected works and highlight their sophistication.'
Northern Renaissance

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Author Bio

Tania Demetriou is lecturer at the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge

Janice Valls-Russell is a principal research associate of Frances National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University Paul Valry, Montpellier