Women’s Household Drama: ‘Love’s Victorie’, A Pastorall’, and ‘The Concealed Fansyes’ by Mary Wroth, et al

Abstract

MLR, .,   continuing ability to excite the reader’s mind just as he had in previous generations. We find, for example, that Juno turned back and to the Hours her rich-maned horse resigned, Who them t’immortal mangers bound; the chariot they inclined Beneath the crystal walls of heav’n and they in golden thrones Consorted other deities, replete with passions. (. –, p. ) Elsewhere, such rich poetic evocations of Olympian scenes may be starkly contrasted with the incisive accounts of hostilities beneath the walls of Troy: Idomeneus his stern dart at Erymas addressed, As, like to Acamas, he fled; it cut the sundry bones Beneath his brain, betwixt his neck and foreparts, and so runs, Shaking his teeth out, through his mouth, his eyes all drowned in blood; So through his nostrils and his mouth, that now dart-open stood, He breathed his spirit. (. –, p. ) Miola’s edition at last makes available the riches of this enormously influential translation for early modern Britain in a highly accessible and affordable publication . It constitutes an invaluable companion to the earlier publication in the series of Chapman’s Odyssey. B U/I. R. C. L., M 3 A H Women’s Household Drama: ‘Love’s Victorie’, ‘A Pastorall’, and ‘e Concealed Fansyes’. By M W, J C, and E B. Ed. by M S and S M. (e Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: e Toronto Series, ) Toronto: Iter Press. . xvi+  pp. $.. ISBN ––––. is volume is a welcome addition to the growing number of scholarly editions dedicated to early modern women’s dramatic writing. Since the publication of Renaissance Drama by Women: Texts and Documents (London: Routledge, ), edited by myself and S. P. Cerasano, there have been a further eleven editions published . ese range from anthologies, such as, Diane Purkiss’s ree Tragedies by Renaissance Women (Harmondsworth: Penguin, ) to single-text publications, such as Elizabeth Cary’s e Tragedy of Mariam (London: Arden, ), edited by Ramona Wray. Another variable is the editorial choice of whether to retain original spellings and remain as close to the original text or manuscript as possible, or to modernize the language in order to make the play more accessible for teaching and performance. e edition reviewed here is an original-spelling anthology. e text is divided into three parts: the General Introduction, jointly written by Marta Straznicky and Sara Mueller; Wroth’s Love’s Victorie, edited by Straznicky; and Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley’s A Pastorall and e Concealed Fancies,  Reviews edited by Mueller. e first section provides a comprehensive and scholarly introduction to the significance of household theatre and manuscript culture to early modern women writers. Straznicky’s Introduction to Love’s Victorie is similarly erudite , with an in-depth analysis of the Huntington manuscript, the version used for this edition. e Textual Notes reproduce unedited variants between the Huntington and Penshurst manuscripts, thereby allowing readers to access the conclusion to Act . Straznicky’s Introduction also includes some detailed close reading, for instance of the political references in Venus’s speeches, and an up-to-date history of editions and performance. e text itself is carefully edited, with the notes providing details of how Wroth made changes to the manuscript versions of the play. As such, this edition of Love’s Victorie will prove invaluable for researchers, especially those with no direct access to the originals. Mueller’s Introduction to A Pastorall and e Concealed Fancies provides a similarly thorough analysis of the Beinecke and Bodleian manuscripts. In particular, she highlights the ‘significant differences between the manuscripts’ (p. ). e two dramas are subsequently allotted separate introductions; the masque’s introduction looks at biographical details and the impact of the English Civil War, while the play’s explores the possibilities of intended performance. e final section of the Introduction looks at the aerlives of the texts, detailing editions and modern performances. e masque and play are based on the Bodleian manuscript. Like Straznicky, Mueller provides careful annotation with notes that make the differences between the two manuscript versions clear. However, the notes here are more extensive and wide-ranging. For example, Mueller points out that ‘Bracken’ may allude ‘to Elizabeth Brackley...