Title Better a Shrew than a Sheep : Women, Drama, and the Culture of Jest in Early Modern England / Pamela Allen Brown

Published Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018] ©2003

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Description 1 online resource : 14 halftones Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction Sauce for the Gander -- 1. Near Neighbors, Women's Wars, and Merry Wives -- 2. Ale and Female: Gossips as Players, Alehouse as Theater -- 3. Between Women, or All Is Fair at Horn Fair -- 4· "O such a rogue would be hang'd!" Shrews versus Wife Beaters -- 5. Scandalous Pleasures: A Coney-Catcher and Her Public -- 6. Griselda the Fool -- Epilogue: The Problem of Fun -- Bibliography -- Index Summary In a study that explodes the assumption that early modern comic culture was created by men for men, Pamela Allen Brown shows that jest books, plays, and ballads represented women as laugh-getters and sought out the laughter of ordinary women. Disputing the claim that non-elite women had little access to popular culture because of their low literacy and social marginality, Brown demonstrates that women often bested all comers in the arenas of jesting, gaining a few heady moments of agency. Juxtaposing the literature of jest against court records, sermons, and conduct books, Brown employs a witty, entertaining style to propose that non-elite women used jests to test the limits of their subjection. She also shows how women's mocking laughter could function as a means of social control in closely watched neighborhoods. While official culture beatified the sheep-like wife and disciplined the scold, jesting culture often applauded the satiric shrew, whether her target was priest, cuckold, or rapist. Brown argues that listening for women's laughter can shed light on both the dramas of the street and those of the stage: plays from The Massacre of the Innocents to The Merry Wives of Windsor to The Woman's Prize taught audiences the importance of gossips' alliances as protection against slanderers, lechers, tyrants, and wife-beaters. Other jests, ballads, jigs, and plays show women reveling in tales of female roguery or scoffing at the perverse patience of Griselda. As Brown points out, some women found Griselda types annoying and even foolish: better be a shrew than a sheep Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-253) and index Notes In English Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jan 2019) Subject English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 -- History and criticism Women and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century Women and literature -- England -- History -- 17th century English drama (Comedy) -- History and criticism Comic, The, in literature. Jestbooks, English -- History and criticism Women in literature. English wit and humor -- History and criticism Sex role in literature. LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh. Women in literature Sex role in literature Jestbooks, English English wit and humor English drama (Comedy) Comic, The, in literature English drama English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan Women and literature Frau Motiv Komische Literatur Prosaschwank Komödie England Englisch. Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book LC no. 2002011310 ISBN 9781501722363 1501722360

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