1st Edition
The Rivalrous Renaissance Envy and Jealousy in Early Modern English Literature
Envy and jealousy are the emotions that fuel interpersonal rivalry, and interpersonal rivalry is a cornerstone of literature. Emerging from growing scholarly interest in the history of emotion, The Rivalrous Renaissance is the first full-length study of envy and jealousy in Renaissance England.
The book introduces readers both to the cultural dynamics of affective rivalry in the period, and to how these crucial feelings inspired literary works across a wide range of genres, by luminary authors such Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Mary Wroth, William Shakespeare, and John Milton. Early modern concepts of envy and jealousy were more actively theorized as central components of human experience than is typical today. Irish argues that literature is the key domain where this Renaissance theorization of affective rivalry was brought to life. Poetry, drama, and narrative prose created the conditions for these concepts to become most socially meaningful, simulating the interpersonal experiences in which the emotions practically manifest.
This volume will appeal to scholars interested in the history of emotion and affect, as well as more broadly to scholars of the literature and social dynamics of early modern England, and to undergraduate and graduate students in specialized seminars.
Introduction
Part 1: Context Studies
1. Envy in Early Modern England
2. Jealousy in Early Modern England
Part 2: Genre and Author Studies
3. Envy and Jealousy in Renaissance Love Lyrics
4. Envy and Jealousy in Shakespeare
5. Envy and Jealousy in Non-Shakespearean Drama
Part 3: Literary Case Studies
6. Jealousy and Suspicion in Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F.J.
7. The Rivalrous Emotions in Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calendar
8. Envy, Jealousy, and Zeal in Milton’s Paradise Lost
Conclusion
Biography
Bradley J. Irish is an Associate Professor of English at Arizona State University. He is the author of Emotion in The Tudor Court: Literature, History, and Early Modern Feeling (2018) and Shakespeare and Disgust: The History and Science of Early Modern Revulsion (2023).