Rebecca Lemon

I am not a big fan of post-modernist criticism, in which broad category I would place this, but perhaps it is New Historicism, which I like better. Setting aside a bit of jargon, it really does make some serious points about the literary and political-philosophical responses to the Essex Rebellion and the Gunpowder Plot. Although it does consider Shakespeare's Richard II in regard to the Essex Rebellion and his Macbeth in regard to the Gunpowder plot, it includes a number of other less well-known pieces, including John Heyward's Henry IV for Essex and Donne's Pseudo-Martyr and Jonson's Catiline for the Gunpwder Plot. It argues that "moderate" writers tended to seek a position independent of both the "traitors" and the government's repressive policies.… (mere)