Description
Book SynopsisThis book takes Shakespeare's plays as a site for studying the specter of interracial sex—of a "jungle fever"—in early modern England's envisionings of itself. Shakespeare's works here assume the status of interrogating, of re-envisioning, rather than simply restaging the scene of a horrific sexual encounter.
Trade Review"Throughout this book, Little talks about artistic renderings created as a complement to productions and texts, images that confirm the place of white womanhood (virginal victims), white manhood (passive heros), and black men (rapists). In a very interesting conclusion to this book, the author outlines his view of the descendants of this dangerous tradition of cultural supremacy: Matthew Shepard, James Bryd, and O.J. Simpson. . . . In the end, Little argues convincingly that Shakespeare has been the most discerning critic of early modern England's attention to issues of alterity, that he positioned himself within his culture as both insider and outsider, so that his work might provide a discriminating read of England's cultural and racial investments." --
Sixteenth Century JournalTable of ContentsList of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction: altars of alterity; 1. Picturing the hand of white women; 2. Witnessing whiteness; 3. Framing Antony's anatomy; 4. (Re)posing with Cleopatra; Afterword; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
