The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters by Adele Lee (review)

Abstract

“body natural” with her “body politic,” she orders the Conde’s execution, only to learn—too late—of his innocence. Thus, both Coello and Diamante expose their fictional queens to “human passions and, at the same time having them resign themselves to their political responsibilities . . . both Isabels bear their bodies politic as a heavy burden that has been imposed upon them” (358). Taken as a whole, this volume will be welcomed by literature scholars and historians already familiar with Elizabethan studies and/or AngloSpanish relations in the early modern era, and many of the chapters will be cited in their own right by specialists. Nevertheless, its real legacy will probably be the further research and scholastic collaboration that it hopes to inspire, since virtually all its contributors conclude that the image of Elizabeth I in early modern Spain still proves, for now, somewhat difficult to make out.