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166 Pages·2015·2.347 MB·English
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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 2 Park Square, Milton Park , Abingdon, Oxo nOX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprin t of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 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 any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. 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 This page has been left blank intentionally 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.

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