Drama at the Courts of Queen Henrietta Maria
Drama at the Courts of Queen Henrietta Maria
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USDDrama at the Courts of Queen Henrietta Maria, published in 2006, considers Queen Henrietta Maria's patronage of drama in England in the light of her French heritage. Karen Britland challenges a common view of Henrietta Maria as a meddlesome and frivolous woman whose actions contributed to the outbreak of the English civil wars by showing how she was consistent in her allegiances to her family and friends, and how her cultural and political positions were reflected in the plays and court masques she sponsored. Unlike previous studies, this book considers the queen's upbringing at the French court and her later exile in France during the English civil wars, and is therefore able to challenge received notions about her activities in England during the 1630s. Karen Britland employs innovative research by combining discussions of literary texts with historical and archival research and discussions of art, architecture and music.
- Considers Henrietta Maria's whole life, rather than just her activities in England during the 1630s
- Combines discussion of literary texts with historical, archival research and discussions of paintings, architecture and music
- Focus is not exclusively on England, but also includes large amount of material about France and French literary and court culture
Reviews & endorsements
"Presenting the queen's theatrical endeavors as 'a displaced means of registering political opinion' (p 64), Britland offers readers a shrewd and detailed theatrical biography of her subject, beginning with Princess Henrietta's earliest balletic appearances in France and emphasizing the element of political allegory that invested all of her courtly entertainments." - Bruce Boehrer, Studies in English Literature
"this is a thoughtful and well-researched study that deserves attention from historians as well as students of court theatre." - Malcolm Smuts, University of Massachusetts, Boston
"Britland's richly interdisciplinary work promises to reshape our perspective on this moment of early modern cultural production."
Harriette Andreadis, Renaissance Quarterly
Product details
May 2006Hardback
9780521847971
304 pages
229 × 152 × 17 mm
0.58kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Sex and dancing: Henrietta Maria's wedding ballets
- 2. Artenice: a new French fashion at the English court
- 3. Foreign bodies: conflict and co-operation in the early masques
- 4. Family affairs: Henrietta Maria and continental politics in 1631
- 5. Tempe Restored: exile/dispossession/restitution
- 6. 'It is my voyce': the fashioning of a self in The Shepherds' Paradise
- 7. 'Fate hath made thy reign her choice': The Temple of Love (1635)
- 8. Florimène: the author and the occasion
- 9. Marie de Médicis and the last masques
- 10. 'Tyer'd, in her Banish'd dress': Henrietta Maria in exile
- Epilogue
- Appendix: an early entertainment by Aurelian Townshend.
