Favorite Sons: The Politics and Poetics of the Sidney Family [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Mazzola (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1403963215 | ISBN-13: 978-1403963215 | Publication Date: October 1, 2003 | Edition: 1st

Favorite Sons explores Sir Philip Sidney's extraordinary poetic legacy, which is closely linked to the development of the early modern family in England, both by-products of new forms of affection and secrecy, both shaped equally by pride and projection. The reasons for such connections are writ small and large by the Sidney family of writers. If family history is driven by and experienced through the logic of culture, all families are poetic projects, too, as the work of Sidney, Robert Sidney, Mary Sidney Herbert, and Mary Wroth attests.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Elizabeth Mazzola has written a stunning book on the centrality of the family in shaping the literary work of the Sidney family, wonderfully demonstrating how the Sidney's achieved stability by continuously reinventing themselves. Not only does Mazzola have very smart things to say about the literature produced by Sir Philip Sidney, Robert Sidney, Mary Herbert, and Mary Wroth, but also about Shakespeare, the development of prose, and romance. Her chapters on Mary Herbert's completion of Sir Philips translation of the Psalms and the Old Arcadia glitter with intelligence and verve. Favorite Sons will be the book to consult on the Sidneys, and it belongs in the library of anyone interested in early modern literature."--Peter C. Herman, San Diego State University

"Elizabeth Mazzola has written a powerful and nuanced account of Sidney's poetic legacy, to his family and to English Renaissance poetry. Mazzola brilliantly explains how that legacy, incomplete and unexpected, was appropriated, refracted, and reinvented in the work of his sister Mary, his brother Robert, and Robert's daughter, Lady Mary Wroth. This family project, in turn, illuminates a much wider field of early modern culture, allowing Mazzola to explore a rich web of connections among literary histories, the history of the family, and politics under the royal family of Elizabeth and her successor. "Favorite Sons" remaps the critical landscape of Sidney studies, to which it makes the most significant contribution of the last twenty years."
--Ernesto B. Gilman,Professor of English, New York University

About the Author

Elizabeth Mazzola teaches Renaissance literature at the City College of New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403963215
• ISBN-13: 978-1403963215
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,204,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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