Renaissance Papers 2006

Book excerpt: Yearly volume containing twelve essays on topics from Shakespeare to Middleton, Donne, Propertius, political resistance and legitimation, Elizabethan anthologies, and Milton. This volume collects the best scholarly essays submitted to the Southeastern Renaissance Conference in 2006. Two focus on Shakespeare: one on twins in The Comedy of Errors, one on differences between the Quarto and Folio versions of the reunion of Lear and Cordelia. Three essays deal with non-Shakespearean drama, examining the unvarying prefatory matter in frequently reprinted dramatic texts, economic systems in Middleton's city comedy, and theoriesof political resistance in revenge tragedy. Political resistance is also the theme of an essay on the satires of Donne and Propertius, while political legitimation is the subject of one on Medici family portraiture. Two essays concern Elizabethan anthologies: one on the unexamined collection Youthes Witte, the other on childbirth prayers in The Monument of Matrones. One essay on Milton's treatment of forgiveness and two on his Samson Agonistes conclude the volume, showing the unexpected affinities between Milton's tragedy and Jonson's comedy Bartholomew Fair and meditating upon the challenge to interpretation posed by end of the play. Contributors: John Adrian, David Bergeron, Kevin Donovan, Heather L. Sale Holian, Matthew T. Lynch, Steven W. May, Andrew Shifflett, Gerald Snare, Susan C. Staub, Emily Stockard, Lewis Walker, and George Walton Williams M. Thomas Hester is Professor of English at North Carolina State University, and Christopher Cobb is Assistant Professor of English at Saint Mary's College.