The Subject of Elizabeth: Authority, Gender, and Representation [Hardcover]

Louis Montrose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0226534731 | ISBN-13: 978-0226534732

As a woman wielding public authority, Elizabeth I embodied a paradox at the very center of sixteenth-century patriarchal English society. Louis Montrose’s long-awaited book, The Subject of Elizabeth, illuminates the ways in which the Queen and her subjects variously exploited or obfuscated this contradiction.

Montrose offers a masterful account of the texts, pictures, and performances in which the Queen was represented to her people, to her court, to foreign powers, and to Elizabeth herself. Retrieving this “Elizabethan imaginary” in all its richness and fascination, Montrose presents a sweeping new account of Elizabethan political culture.  Along the way, he explores the representation of Elizabeth within the traditions of Tudor dynastic portraiture; explains the symbolic manipulation of Elizabeth’s body by both supporters and enemies of her regime; and considers how Elizabeth’s advancing age provided new occasions for misogynistic subversions of her royal charisma.  

This book, the remarkable product of two decades of study by one of our most respected Renaissance scholars, will be welcomed by all historians, literary scholars, and art historians of the period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Twenty-five years ago Louis Montrose''s pioneering essay ''Eliza Queen of Shepherdes and the Pastoral of Power'' cracked one of the crucial codes of Elizabethan celebratory rhetoric. His new book, addressing the complex and contradictory nature of Elizabeth as performer and spectacle, finally fulfills a very old promise. This is an important and fascinating book, and it is wonderful to have it at last."—Stephen Orgel, author of The Authentic Shakespeare

(Stephen Orgel )

"A fascinating acount of [Elizabeth''s] representation as a woman ruler in a patriarchal society and of her councilor''s attempts to take political advantage of her gender while simultaneously working to contain its perceived frailties. . . . This important interdisciplinary work offers valuable insights into her culture and will be of interest to all Elizabethan scholars."

(Retha M. Warnicke Renaissance Quarterly )

"McKee has done an admirable job bringing this extraordinary woman to life. The selections are well chosen, and include samples from an entire lifetime of work. . . . I heartily recommend this book and applaud McKee''s decision to issue these important texts."

(Tryntje Helfferich H-Net Review )

"In this finely woven tapestry of a book, Louis Montrose draws on and reorients his substantial writings on the world of Elizabethan imagery as he explores the competing and diverse representations of the queen. . . . The Subject of Elizabeth offers easy and rewarding access into the challenging world of the Elizabethan court."

(Mary Hill Cole Literature and History )

About the Author

Louis Montrose is professor of literature at the University of California, San Diego, and author of The Purpose of Playing: Shakespeare and the Cultural Politics of the Elizabethan Theatre, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226534731
• ISBN-13: 978-0226534732
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,657,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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