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English Lyric Poetry: The Early Seventeenth Century (review)

2002; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 32; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/yes.2002.0071

2222-4289

J. Christopher Warner,

Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies

YES,32, 2002 YES,32, 2002 either current or remembered, to their advantage by reconstituting it in terms of new poetic and dramaticgenres' (p. 7). In the two chapters that follow this introduction, Eggert identifies the different ways in which a late-Elizabethanhankeringaftermasculine rule impels Spenser (in TheFaerie Queene, Book v) and Shakespeare(in HenryV) towardsthe creation of new literaryforms.Britomart'sdecapitationof the Amazon Radigund parallelsa shiftof idiom from romance to a historical allegory purged of feminine influence; in Heny V,Shakespeareattemptsto create a peculiarlymasculinebrandof epic theatre by investing the heroic king with a theatricalauthoritythat in the earlier histories (whether it has belonged to Joan La Pucelle or Richard III) has been gendered feminine. Eggert revisits this question of the gender of theatre in a study of (Jacobean) AntonyandCleopatra. Elizabeth's absence permits nostalgia for charismatic feminine rule: Shakespeare's compelling Cleopatra both evokes the dead queen and, in the endless fecundity of her imaginative production, stands for the alluringtheatreitself.Eggert'sthesisisat its most interesting,however, when it turns to Hamlet.Her reading of the ambiguous means of succession in Denmark gives a privilegedplace to Gertrude, Claudius's'imperialjointress':marryingher seems to be 'the only empirically surefire way to acquire the throne' (p. I03). It is thus Gertrude, ratherthan Claudius, who standsbetween Hamlet and succession:he is not merely her son, but her subject. The frustration,prevarication,and despair of which Hamlet's individuality is constituted are the result of this condition: they prevent him from becoming the stock Revenger, as they prevent Hamletfrom becoming the stockrevenge tragedy. How successful, then, is Eggert's attempt to rehabilitate female influence? Her readings are persuasive, uniting close attention to the texts with an admirable breadth of reference to current criticism. Considering the historicistnature of her thesis, more use of early modern sources might have been an improvement, particularlyin the chapter on Spenser. A more theoretical problem is highlighted by the final chapter, where Eggert argues that Milton's Eve is not only not subordinate to Adam before the Fall, but is described in language suggestive of monarchy. She relates this apparent inversion to Milton's republican writings, where the rule of Charles I is gendered feminine, and that of the nostalgically remembered Elizabeth, masculine. If, however, masculinity or femininity can be divorced like this from biological sex, then Eggert's ostensibly feminist project of redrawing in a more positive light the influence of feminine power is, perhaps, compromised. What do 'real' women gain by the reconsideration of a femininity whose relation to them is, to say the least, complicated?To be fair, though, Eggert seems to be aware of the irony, noting in her afterwordthat female writersgained little by the presence of a woman on the throne. Such minor carping, anyway, does not invalidatethe main argumentsof an intelligent,lucid, and enlighteningstudy. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON TOM RUTTER English LyricPoetry. The Early Seventeenth Century. ByJONATHANF. S. POST. London and New York:Routledge. 999. xvii + 323 PP. ?5o. Postopens with the observation, 'Literaryhistoriesare supposedto be things of the past' (p. ix), and certainly the format of this one seems a throwback to a former time. Intended as a guide to its subject for 'both beginning and more advanced students', the book proceeds simply from one poet to the next, with the most canonical given chapters to themselves (Donne, Jonson, Herbert, Milton of the I645 Poems, Vaughan, and Marvell) and the less canonical grouped in three other either current or remembered, to their advantage by reconstituting it in terms of new poetic and dramaticgenres' (p. 7). In the two chapters that follow this introduction, Eggert identifies the different ways in which a late-Elizabethanhankeringaftermasculine rule impels Spenser (in TheFaerie Queene, Book v) and Shakespeare(in HenryV) towardsthe creation of new literaryforms.Britomart'sdecapitationof the Amazon Radigund parallelsa shiftof idiom from romance to a historical allegory purged of feminine influence; in Heny V,Shakespeareattemptsto create a peculiarlymasculinebrandof epic theatre by investing the heroic king with a theatricalauthoritythat in the earlier histories (whether it has belonged to Joan La Pucelle or Richard III) has been gendered feminine. Eggert revisits this question of the gender of theatre in a study of (Jacobean) AntonyandCleopatra. Elizabeth's absence permits nostalgia for...