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The Shakespearean Marriage: Merry Wives and Heavy Husbands PDF

230 Pages·1998·9.409 MB·English
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The Shakespearean Marriage Merry Wives and Heavy Husbands Lisa Hopkins THE SHAKESPEAREAN MARRIAGE Also by Lisa Hopkins ELIZABETH I AND HER COURT JOHN FORD'S POLITICAL THEATRE WOMEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS: Female Rulers of the Sixteenth Century The Shakespearean Marriage Merry Wives and Heavy Husbands Lisa Hopkins Senior Lecturer Sheffield Hallam University First published in Great Britain 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-333-64732-7 First published in the United States of America 1998 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 0-312-17748-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hopkins, Lisa, 1962- The Shakespearean marriage: merry wives and heavy husbands / Lisa Hopkins. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-312-17748-8 (cloth) I. Shakespeare, William, I 564-1616-Knowledge-Manners and customs. 2. Marriage in literature. 3. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616-Political and social views. 4. Literature and society -England-History-16th century. 5. Literature and society- -England-History-17th century. 6. Man-women relationships in literature. 7. Married women in literature. 8. Husbands in literature. I. Title. PR3069.M32H66 1997 822.3'3--{!c21 97-23091 CIP © Lisa Hopkins 1998 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road. London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 198\l. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 07 06 05 04 03 02 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire For Chris and Sam This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Shakespeare and Contemporary Marriage 1 1 Marriage as Comic Closure 16 2 Marriage in the Middle 34 3 What Makes a Marriage? 66 4 The Fate of the Nation: Marriage in the History Plays 85 5 Roman Marriage 109 6 Tragic Marriage 133 7 The Wedding of the Daughter: Marriage in the Last Plays 161 Conclusion 188 Notes 192 Index 215 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements Many debts have been incurred during the writing of this book. The Cultural Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University gave me study leave to work on it; the staff at the Mary Badland Library, Sheffield Hallam University assisted with enquiries and with inter library loans. Two final year students, Nicola Connolly and Marcia Layne, helped me track down references and commented interest ingly on critical trends. In a small, close department, I have received a great deal of support from several colleagues, but most of all special thanks are due to Ian Baker for the extraordinary generosity of his unfailing assistance, stimulating conversation and willingness to lighten my workload. The members of the Northern Renaissance Seminar have been a very congenial stimu lus, as have those of the electronic discussion group Shaksper, and my friend Mike Davis. Charmian Hearne provided the original backing for the project and, as its editor, has been consistently helpful throughout; I was also greatly benefited by the comments of the anonymous reader. My husband Chris has, as always, been invaluable, not least in looking after our son Sam, and for the same reason I would also like to thank our childminder, Josie Edwards, for the work that has made this book possible. Its faults are, of course, entirely my own. ix

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