ABSTRACT
In a bold and brilliantly persuasive series of moves, Lorna Hutson draws upon new historicist and feminist theories to examine closely Renaissance literature and the cultural impact of the humanist project.
The Usurer's Daughter:
* provides startling new readings of Shakespeare
* takes an entirely new approach to classical scholarship
* focuses attention on the central importance of the history of the representation of women
* illuminates how social relations between men were textualised during the early modern period.
INTRODUCTION The signs of friendship Part I Mental husbandry 1 THE HOUSEWIFE AND THE HUMANISTS 2 ECONOMIES OF FRIENDSHIP The textuality of amicitial Part II Anxieties of textual access 3 FROM ERRANT KNIGHT TO PRUDENT CAPTAIN Masculinity and ‘romantic’ fiction 4 USURERS’ DAUGHTERS AND PRODIGAL SONS The gendered plot of authorship in the 1570s Part III The theatre of clandestine marriage 5 HOUSEHOLD STUFF 6 WHY DO SHAKESPEARE’S WOMEN HAVE ‘CHARACTERS’? Shylock: Why this usurer has a daughter
