“A true Copie”: Gascoigne’s Princely Pleasures and the textual representation of courtly performance
Anderson, Susan
Early Modern Literary Studies 14.1/Special Issue 18
Abstract
The Princely Pleasures at Kenelworth Castle describes events which took place during Elizabeth I’s visit to Kenilworth in 1575, giving an account of the various devices which were prepared for her amusement by various contributors. Additionally, this text preserves a dramatic entertainment written by George Gascoigne, which was prepared for the visit but which was not performed. The cancellation of this part of the planned spectacle has been explained as a consequence of the subtle (and less subtle) political resonances of the ‘shew’ and its language . What have not been explored are the implications of the presence of this abandoned dramatic script for the work that the text as a whole is doing in relation to the visit, the entertainments, and the contributors that provided them.
Click here to read/download this article (HTML file)
Related posts:
- ‘If the head be evill the body cannot be good’: Legitimate Rebellion in Gascoigne and Kinwelmershe’s Jocasta
- Introduction: ‘Thus Much I Adventure to Deliver to You’: the Fortunes of George Gascoigne
- “Set in portraiture”: George Gascoigne, Queen Elizabeth, and Adapting the Royal Image
- Self-portraits and Self-presentation in the Work of George Gascoigne
- The fruits of war: The voice of the soldier in Gascoigne, Rich, and Churchyard