Abstract

CULL, John T.. 'Tis such an Embleme of bondage hereafter': Emblematic Imagery in Swetnam the Woman Hater. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2009, vol.30, n.119, pp.57-79. ISSN 2448-7554.

Cull's essay analyzes the presence and function of emblematic images in the anonymous (though attributed by some to Thomas Heywood) comedy Swetnam the Woman Hater, Arraigned by Women, that was probably first staged in 1618 or 1619 by the prestigious Queen Anne's Players theater company at London's so-called "corral of comedy," the Red Bull. It is an adaptation of Juan de Flores' sentimental novel, La historia de Grisel y Mirabella (1495), an enormously popular work that was widely diffused around Europe in the 16^th century. The English version circulated under the title: The History of Aurelio and Isabella. The use of emblematic imagery was an original touch added by the English playwright, as the phenomenon of emblematics only emerged well after the appearance of Flores' novel.

Keywords : emblem studies; Swetnam the Woman Hater; Aurelio and Isabella; Juan de Flores; anti-feminist literature.