Elizabethan Complaints

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Anna Swärdh (Stockholm University)
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Within the last decade of the sixteenth century, a number of narrative poems were published, usually referred to as complaints. Besides time of publication, they share formal and thematic concerns and an intertextual awareness indicating intended generic belonging. The principal texts are: Samuel Daniel’s “The Complaint of Rosamond” (1592, augmented in 1594), Thomas Churchyard’s “The Tragedy of Shore’s Wife” (1593), Anthony Chute’s

Beauty Dishonoured Written under the Title of Shore’s wife

(1593), Thomas Lodge’s “The Tragical Complaint of Elstred” (1593), Shakespeare’s

The Rape of Lucrece

(1594), Michael Drayton’s

Matilda. The Fair and Chaste Daughter of the Lord Robert Fitzwater

(1594, augmented in 1596 and then abbreviated in 1604), John Trussell’s

Raptus

1787 words

Citation: Swärdh, Anna. "Elizabethan Complaints". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=16298, accessed 31 October 2024.]

16298 Elizabethan Complaints 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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