The Tragedy of Mariam the Fair Queen of Jewry

by Cary, Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780520079694
• ISBN10: 0520079698
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) is the first original play by a woman to be published in England, and its author is the first English woman writer to be memorialized in a biography, which is included with this edition of the play. Mariam is a distinctive example of Renaissance drama that serves the desire of today's readers and scholars to know not merely how women were represented in the early modern period but also how they themselves perceived their own condition. With this textually emended and fully annotated edition, the play will now be accessible to all readers. The accompanying biography of Cary further enriches our knowledge of both domestic and religious conflicts in the seventeenth century.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix
INTRODUCTION	1	(62)
ELIZABETH CARY'S LIFE AND WORKS	3	(14)
SUBTEXTS AND CONTENTS FOR MARIAM	17	(18)
Josephus and Jewish Materials	17	(3)
Biblical and Historical Herods	20	(2)
Mystery Play Herods	22	(1)
Continental and Classicizing Dramas about Herod and Mariam	23	(3)
English "Closet" Dramas	26	(4)
The "Social Text" of Henry VIII's Divorce	30	(5)
CARY'S MARIAM	35	(6)
The Chorus and Conventional Wisdom	35	(3)
Structure and Characterization	38	(3)
MARIAM AND SHAKESPEARE	41	(2)
THE TEXTS OF MARIAM AND THE LIFE	43	(5)
The 1613 Quarto of Mariam	43	(4)
The Manuscript of The Lady of Falkland: Her Life	47	(1)
EDITORIAL PROCEDURES	48	(3)
NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION	51	(12)
PART ONE THE TRAGEDY OF MARIAM	63	(116)
Historical Background to the Events in the Play	63	(2)
The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry	65	(86)
Elizabeth Cary
Notes to the Play	151	(28)
PART TWO THE LADY FALKLAND	179	(98)
Chronology of Elizabeth Cary's Life and Works	179	(4)
The Lady Falkland: Her Life, by One of Her Daughters	183	(94)
APPENDIX A PASSAGES FROM LODGE'S TRANSLATION OF JOSEPHUS (1602)	277	(6)
APPENDIX B TEXTUAL COLLATION FOR MARIAM	283	(34)
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY	317