Publisher description for Secret rites and secret writing : royalist literature, 1641-1660 / Lois Potter.
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This book is a study of the various kinds of royalist writing during the period of the English Civil War and the Interregnum, when printing and publishing were largely controlled by Parliament. Lois Potter examines the effectiveness of this control and the means by which writers evaded it: illicit publication; the use of various kinds of code, such as ciphers, emblems, secret languages, symbolism and allegory; the exploitation of genres such as romance and tragicomedy; the submerging of personal identity through literary quotation and allusion. A final chapter considers the place of Charles I in royalist literature, with particular emphasis on the effect of the posthumous Eikon Basilike, attributed to him. By looking at a very wide sample of texts ranging from anonymous pamphlets to the works of well-known 'Cavalier poets', the book brings greater precision to the controversial subject of the relation of literature to politics and the relation of both to the psychology of secrecy.
Library of Congress subject headings for this publication: English literature Early modern, 1500-1700 History and criticism, Great Britain History Civil War, 1642-1649 Literature and the war, Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649 In literature, Politics and literature Great Britain History 17th century, Royalists Great Britain History 17th century, Monarchy in literature, Ciphers in literature, Figures of speech, Literary form