“O unquenchable thirst of gold”: Lyly’s Midas and the English quest for Empire
Connolly, Annaliese
Early Modern Literary Studies 8.2 (September 2002) / Special Issue 10
Abstract
This paper argues that despite being written to celebrate England’s defeat of the Armada, Midas actually offers a critique of England’s own imperial claims. Lyly uses Lesbos and Phrygia, the play’s two opposed locations, which figure as England and Spain, to underline the similarities between them. Firstly, the paper examines how the analogy between Elizabeth as the ruler of Lesbos and Sappho, far from flattering the queen underlines the negative aspects of her position as a female ruler. Next, it goes on to explore the significance of Phrygia, in the light of the translatio myth, to suggest that the play uses it to collapse any sense of difference between English and Spanish in their quest for empire. Finally, I consider the ways in which the play places its emphasis not upon the conflict between England and Spain as the play’s allegory suggests, but upon the influence of gold upon those who go in search of it. Here Midas draws upon modern myths of gold such as El Dorado to suggest that the thirst for gold affects English and Spanish alike.
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