Inscribing the Time

Combining the resources of new historicism, feminism and postmodern textual analysis, this book reveals how contemporary pressures left their mark on three Shakespeare plays written at the end of Elizabeth's reign. The language of "Troilus and Cressida", "Hamlet" and "Twelfth Night" echoes the events and anxieties of the time: "Troilus" reflects the rebellion of the Earl of Essex and the failure of the courtly, chivalric style; "Hamlet" resonates with the danger of the bubonic plague and the difficult succession history of James I; and "Twelfth Night" is imbued with nostalgia for an earlier period of Elizabeth's rule, when her control over religious and erotic affairs seemed more secure.