Shakespeare, Elizabeth and Ivan - The Role of English-Russian Relations in Love's Labours Lost

Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labour's Lost has perplexed scholars and theatergoers for over 400 years due to its linguistic complexity, obscure topical allusions and decidedly non-comedic ending. According to traditional interpretations, it is Shakespeare's "French" play, based on events and characters from the French Wars of Religion.
This work argues that the play's French surface conceals a Russian core. It outlines an interpretation of Love's Labour's Lost rooted in diplomatic and trade relations between Russia and Elizabethan England during the dramatic decades following England's discovery of a northern trade route to Muscovy in 1553. Drawing on original research of 16th-century sources in English, Latin and French, the text also surveys Russian sources previously unavailable in translation. This analysis provides new explanations for some of the play's previously most enigmatic elements, such as its unconventional ending, the significance of its secondary characters, linguistic anomalies and the Masque of the Muscovites itself.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Timeline: Historical Events in England, Russia and Europe, 1530-1649

Preface

Introduction

Part I-Love's Labors: Mary, Elizabeth and Ivan, 1553-1584

¿1.¿Seasick Coming from Muscovy

¿2.¿What Buys Your Company?

¿3.¿The Ambassadors of Love

¿4.¿The Armipotent Mars

¿5.¿The Empress of Muscovy

¿6.¿The Soldier, the Clown and the Wench

Part II-Labors Lost: Elizabeth and Godunov, 1584-1598

¿7.¿The Curate, the Pedant and the Boy

¿8.¿A Feast of Languages

¿9.¿Heirs of All Eternity

10.¿The Pageant of the Nine Worthies

Epilogue: You This Way, We That Way

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Rima Greenhill is a senior lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University.

Summary

Argues that Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost’s French surface conceals a Russian core. The book outlines a comprehensive interpretation of the play that is rooted in diplomatic and trade relations between Russia and Elizabethan England during the dramatic decades following England’s discovery of a northern trade route to Muscovy in 1553.

Product details

• Authors: Rima Greenhill
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.04.2023
• EAN: 9781476684826
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-8482-6
• No. of pages: 264
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 354 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science; Russia, European History, English, LITERARY CRITICISM / Shakespeare, DRAMA / Shakespeare, International Relations, British & Irish history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean