A History of Seventeenth–Century English Literature

A History of Seventeenth–century English Literature outlines significant developments in the English literary tradition over a fascinating century of change and continuities. After a thorough consideration of the conditions for literary production and consumption in the early seventeenth century, this volume continues with the major dynastic disruption of the end of the house of Tudor and the inception of the Stuart era, bringing with it major shifts in patterns of patronage and significant readjustments in dominant religious and political ideologies. Central chapters deal with the glittering court culture of Charles I (and reactions to it), with the cultural impact of the Civil War, and with the complex challenges the Restoration posed to writers across the political spectrum. It ends with the completion of the Williamite revolution, which reorders cultural relations within the ruling elite, marks a new phase for dissenting writers, alters the nature of press control, and coincides with the transformation of the reading public.

List of illustrations ix Preface x 1 The Last Years of Elizabeth I: Before March 1603 1 Literary Consumption and Production 2 Latin, Neo–Latin and English 14 Manuscript, Performance, Print 16 The Press and its Controls 22 The Final Years of Elizabethan Theatre 26 Patronage and Court Culture 30 2 From the Accession of James I to the Defenestration of Prague: March 1603 to May 1618 33 Changes and Continuities 33 The Making of the Royal Courts 35 Masques and Other Court Entertainments 38 Early Jacobean Theatre 42 Jacobean Shakespeare 45 Other Drama 70 Non–Dramatic Poetry 87 Non–Fictional Prose 113 3 From the Defenestration of Prague to the Personal Rule: May 1618 to March 1629 119 Continental Wars 119 Three Funerals and a Wedding 123 Masques and Pageants 129 Plays and Players 133 Poetry and Prose Romance 151 Non–Fictional Prose 156 News 164 4 The Literature of the Personal Rule: March 1629 to April 1640 167 The Making of the Caroline Court 167 Masques of the Personal Rule 176 Other Entertainments 182 Music and Literature at the Caroline Court 184 Themes, Occasions and Conversations 186 From Manuscript to Print 190 Plays and Players 192 Literature and Laudianism 203 George Herbert 206 The Emblem Books of Quarles and Wither 215 Early Milton 221 5 From the Short Parliament to the Restoration: April 1640 to May 1660 229 Events and Consequences 229 Royalist Poetry 239 Crashaw and Vaughan 264 Mid–Century Drama 273 Sir Thomas Browne 277 Poetry for Parliament and Protectorate 283 Pamphlet Wars 295 Newspapers 311 6 The Literature of the Rule of Charles II: May 1660 to February 1685 317 Dissent, Popery and Arbitrary Government 317 Theatre of the Rule of Charles II 327 Rochesterism 352 The Poetry of Dryden and Butler 360 Marvell After 1660 370 Bunyan, Pepys and Sprat 381 Milton, St Nicholas and Hutchinson 391 Katherine Philips and Margaret Cavendish 405 7 From the Accession of James II: After February 1685 409 James II and the Williamite Revolution 409 Aphra Behn: The Late Works 413 Dryden and James II 416 After 1690 421 Bibliography 429 Index 453

Thomas N. Corns  is Professor of English at the University of Wales, Bangor. His publications include  A Companion to Milton  (ed., Blackwell Publishing, 2001) and, with Gordon Campbell, John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought  (2008). With Ann Hughes and David Loewenstein, he edited The Complete Works of Gerrard Winstanley (2009), and he recently edited The Milton Encyclopedia  (2012). He is an Honoured Scholar of the Milton Society of America.