Description: Andrew McRae examines the relationship between literature and politics at a pivotal moment in English history. McRae argues that the most influential and incisive political satire in this period may be found in manuscript libels, scurrilous pamphlets, and a range of other material written and circulated under the threat of censorship. Satire provided crucial resources through which early Stuart writers could define new models of political identity and construct new discourses of dissent.
Brief description: Andrew McRae is Senior Lecturer in the School of English at the University of Exeter. He is the author of God Speed the Plough: the Representation of Agrarian England, 1500-1660 (Cambridge, 1996) and Renaissance Drama (2003), and co-editor of The Writing of Rural England 1500-1800 (2003).
Review Quotes: "...McRae excellently shows how satirical discourse defined and helped to create political divisions." SEL Studies in English Literature, Achsah Guibbory, Recent Studies in the English Renaissance