ABSTRACT

Reconsideration of Thomas Nashe, Robert Greene, Philip Sidney, Thomas Lodge, and Elizabethan prose romance is urgent in early modern studies today because of a long tradition of marginalizing fiction that has only recently begun to be corrected. The past quarter-century has seen vast expansions of the early modern canon, but despite this new breadth, early modern prose fiction, long ago mined as sources for Shakespearean drama, has often been overlooked. Sidney’s supposed fear of the “stigma of print” has contributed to the assumption that print has minor relevance for many authors, but Sidney’s early death and political ambitions make him a non-representative case. Romance for Sale in Early Modern England presents a comprehensive reconsideration of Elizabethan prose romance, especially the works of Greene, Sidney, Lodge, and Nashe. A series of influential studies have focused on the early eighteenth century and “amatory fictions” by women, especially Behn, Haywood, and Manley.