Literature, travel, and colonial writing in the English Renaissance, 1545-1625 / Andrew Hadfield

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-296) and index

Introduction: Changing Places in English Renaissance Literature -- 1. 'How harmful be the errors of princes': English Travellers in (Western) Europe, 1545-1620 -- 2. 'What is the matter with yowe Christen men?': English Colonial Literature, 1555-1625 -- 3. 'The perfect glass of state': English Fiction from William Baldwin to John Barclay, 1553-1625 -- 4. 'All my travels' history': Reading the Locations of Renaissance Plays

What was the purpose of representing foreign lands for writers in the English Renaissance? This innovative and wide-ranging study argues that writers often used their works as vehicles to reflect on the state of contemporary English politics, particularly their own lack of representation in public institutions. Hadfield explores in his work representations of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East, selecting pertinent examples rather than attempting to embrace a total coverage. He also offers fresh readings of Shakespeare, Marlowe, More, Lyly, Hakluyt, Harriot, Nashe, and others