The Cultural Uses of the Caesars on the English Renaissance Stage

In this important study of the uses of the past in early modern England, Hopkins reminds us what has always been at stake in the term Renaissance. Hopkins sheds new light on the importance of legends of British antiquity alongside (and often in tension with) the history of classical Rome. Philip Schwyzer, University of Exeter, UK Caesarian power was a crucial context in the Renaissance, as rulers in Europe, Russia and Turkey all sought to appropriate Caesarian imagery and authority, but it has been surprisingly little explored in scholarship. In this study Lisa Hopkins explores the way in which the stories of the Caesars, and of the Julio-Claudians in particular, can be used to figure the stories of English rulers on the Renaissance stage. Analyzing plays by Shakespeare and a number of other playwrights of the period, she demonstrates how early modern English dramatists, using Roman modes of literary representation as cover, commented on the issues of the day and critiqued contemporary monarchs. Contents: Introduction: 'king nor keisar'; The Whore of Babylon: Reformation and deformation: Titus Andronicus; Hamlet among the Romans. Caesar and the Czar: Tamburlaine and Julius Caesar; Pocahontas and The Winter's Tale. Romans in Britain: Cleopatra and the myth of Scota; The Romans in Wales: Cymbeline; He, Claudius; Conclusion; Works cited; Index. About the Author: Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.