Mermaids and the Production of Knowledge in Early Modern England

166 Pages·2015·2.347 MB·English

by  Tara E. Pedersen

MERMAIDS AND THE PRODUCTION OF
KNOWLEDGE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND
For Wanda and Cait Pedersen, mermaids both.
Mermaids and the Production of
Knowledge in
Early Modern England
TARA PEDERSEN
University of Wisconsin-Parkside, USA
First published2015 b y Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright© Tara E. Pedersen 2015
Tara E. Pedersen has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Pedersen, Tara E.
Mermaids and the production of knowledge in early modern England / by Tara E.
Pedersen.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-4001-3 (hardcover)
1. Women in literature. 2. English drama--17th
century--History and criticism. 3. English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan,
1500-1600--History and criticism. 4. Mermaids in literature. 5. Sex role in literature.
6. Social values in literature. 7. Sex role--England--History. 8. Women and literature--
England--History. I. Title.
PR635.W6P43 2014
820.9'375--dc23
2014031363
ISBN 9781472440013 (hbk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Identifying Mermaids: Economies of Representation
in Dekker and Middleton’s The Roaring Girl 35
2 “We shall discover our Selves”: Practicing the Mermaid’s Law
in Margaret Cavendish’s The Convent of Pleasure 55
3 Perfect Pictures: The Mermaid’s Half-Theater and
the Anti-Theatrical Debates in Book II of Spenser’s
The Faerie Queene 81
4 Reading Like a Mermaid: Antony and Cleopatra’s
(Un)Mysterious History and the Case of the Disappearing Snake 101
Afterword
“Drown’d! O, where?”: The Mermaid and
the Map in Shakespeare’s Hamlet 123
Works Cited 139
Index 153
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List of Figures
0.1 Mermaid ewer and basin, London (1610–1611) 19
0.2 Mermaid dish, by Thomas Toft, Staffordshire (1670–1689) 20
0.3 Shepheard Buss embroidery (see mermaid in bottom corner),
Great Britain (1570–1600) 21
0.4 Mermaid finial, Manerbe, France (late sixteenth century to
early seventeenth century) 22
0.5 Tureen and cover, Germany (seventeenth century) 23
0.6 Inkstand, Italy (1570) 24
2.1 Mermaid on misericord, St. Laurence’s Church, Shropshire 68
2.2 Mermaid on misericord at Chichester Cathedral 68
2.3 Mermaid from the collar of Lord Thomas Berkeley’s
memorial brass, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire 69
This page has been left blank intentionally
Acknowledgments
I feel immeasurably lucky that I am able to name so many people who have helped
me with this project in one form or another. At UC Davis I was privileged to
learn with a cohort that challenged and encouraged me. I am thankful for what
they taught me in every class that we shared, and I owe particular debts to Karen
Wilson, who explored many of the possibilities in these early modern texts with
me for hours on her back porch, and to the early modern writing group (Valerie
Dennis, Natalie Giannini, Natalie Grand, Genna Pearson, Kyle Pivetti, and Vanessa
Rapatz). I am honored to have learned with you.
Charity Romstad, who painted me mermaids, who imagined them with me
in unexpected ways, and who traipsed across England in search of them on more
than one occasion deserves special acknowledgment. Likewise, Ada Jaarsma has
been a superb intellectual companion. Our weekly discussions propel me, and I
thank her for faithfully reading and commenting on every word of this dissertation
without ever grumbling.
Throughout my life I have been taught by many inspiring scholars. In
particular, I wish to thank Seeta Chaganti, whose comments on this project led to
some needed revisions and nice surprises. Margaret Ferguson has been a generous
mentor. I am grateful both to her and to Deborah Harkness for framing their
course on the early modern city in such a way that I found the mermaid within
it. Margie’s seminars and the many years of study I have shared with her have
enriched me professionally and personally. Fran Dolan encourages me to practice
boldness in my scholarship and my life. I am grateful to her for listening to me in
ways that allowed me to hear myself more clearly, and I value her irreverent wit
and friendship. This project could not have taken its current shape without these
extraordinary women. I thank each of them for reading all or part of this book and
for making it better. Any deficiencies that remain within it are, of course, my own.
The majority of Chapter 2 is republished with the permission of Early Modern
Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal. I wish to thank the editors of that issue, Jane
Donawerth and Adele Seefe, and the anonymous reviewers, for their comments
on this section of the manuscript. This book was completed with the support of
a faculty fellowship through the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and I thank
the university as well as my colleagues and the staff support, especially Brandi
Liantonio, in the English department. In addition, Peter Rubin generously offered
me his technological know-how; Erika Gaffney has been a superb, responsive
editor; and the anonymous reviewer for this manuscript asked questions and
provided comments that made revising a pleasure.