Lexington Books
Pages: 302
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4985-3458-1 • Hardback • October 2016 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-4985-3459-8 • eBook • October 2016 • $104.50 • (£81.00)
Michael G. Cornelius is chair of the Department of English and Communications at Wilson College
Introduction
Chapter 1: Sexuality as Silence
Representing Edward II in Medieval English Literature
Chapter 2: Sexuality as Identity
A King, A Lover, and a Crisis of Identity in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II
Chapter 3: Sexuality as History
Understanding Michael Drayton’s Obsession
Chapter 4: Sexuality as (Flawed) Nature
“Let Edward be the subject of thy pen:” Augustinian Character and Contradiction in Sir Francis Hubert’s The Historie of Edward the Second
Chapter 5: Sexuality as Disease
Identification and The Role of “Defense” in Elizabeth Cary’s The History of the Life, Reign, and Death of Edward II
Chapter 6: Sexuality as (Political, Moral, Cultural) Exemplum?
The Strange Case of Edward II in Richard Niccols’ Mirror for Magistrates
Conclusion
The Doom and Promise of History
Edward II and a Literature of Same-Sex Love: The Gay King in Fiction, 1590–1640 is a well-researched, well-organized and overall important analysis of representations of same-sex love in early modern English literature.
— Jerry Pierce, Penn State Hazleton
Edward II and a Literature of Same-Sex Love’ is a an enchanting, fabulous and innovative account of the gay king in fiction; Michael G. Cornelius succeeds in putting together a thorough examination of chronicle sources and earlier texts, as they all come together to communicate a gay identity. Queer dreams were certainly made of Edward II.
— Anna Foka, Umeå University