Herrick, Fanshawe and the Politics of Intertextuality: Classical Literature and Seventeenth-Century Royalism

Through case studies of three poets using classical allusion, imitation and translation for the purpose of oppositional polemic in seventeenth-century England, this monograph examines the political ideas behind and implications of the distinct theories of intertextuality they embrace. Spanning a spectrum of political opinion from Herrick's ardent royalism, through the moderate royalism of Fanshawe to Milton's republicanism, their different stances towards political authority, gauged by their responses to the doctrine of the Divinity of Kings, inform their different conceptions of literary authority and of their relation to poets of the past.The use of classical intertextuality to articulate political ideas by poets of the mid-seventeenth century has attracted growing interest in recent years. Yet little attention has been paid to the variety of ways in which poets conceptualized the intertextual transaction, nor to how those ideas might relate to their political views. In meeting this need, Pugh's approach gives rise to significant re-evaluations of the neglected Herrick and Fanshawe, and a challenging reappraisal of Milton's perspective on the epic tradition.