Selected Essays On George Gascoigne

This collection of essays situates George Gascoigne in context as the pre-eminent writer of the early part of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. His ceaseless experimentation was hugely influential on those later Elizabethans - including Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare - who represent the great flowering of the English literary renaissance. Gascoigne rarely returned to a genre, writing prose fiction, blank verse, plays, sonnets, narrative verse, courtly entertainments, satire and many other literary forms, and the later Elizabethans were fully aware of his significance. These essays are organised into three main sections: influences upon Gascoigne, such as Skelton; Gascoigne’s influence on others, including Spenser; and finally a reassessment of his critical neglect and the story behind his marginalised status in the English literary canon. As only the second multi-authored essay collection on Gascoigne, this book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of this important and often misunderstood writer.

First modern full-length study of the Elizabethan poet George Gascoigne.

This first volume in The Complete Works of George Gascoigne, was originally published in this Cambridge edition during 1907.

This is a comprehensive reference guide to Shakespeare's literary knowledge. An A-Z of nearly 200 entries covers the full range of writers and texts that influenced Shakespeare's work from classical to contemporary. Entries for all major sources feature surveys of their place in Shakespeare's time, sample excerpts, detailed discussion of their relationship to the plays and poems, and full bibliography.