T. J. B. Spencer

Bio: T. J. B. Spencer is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 11 citations.

Service and dependency in Shakespeare's plays

Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction: 'slippery people' 2. Sons, daughters and servants 3. Wives and servants 4. Friends and servants 5. Tragic dependencies in King Lear 6. Freedom, service and slavery in Macbeth 7. Epilogue: some reflections on the porter Notes Bibliography Index.

Reading Coryats Crudities (1611)

Abstract: Coryats Crudities, Thomas Coryat's account of his five-month tour of Europe, was published in 1611. This article argues that Coryat's "crudities" resist ideals of humanist pedagogy, where rhetorical digestio involved the proper organization and assimilation of knowledge. Coryat and his mock panegyrists explore connections between writing and intemperance, discussing the painful effects of pleasurable reading experiences on the bodies of aristocratic men. In so doing, they coin a new generic position for Crudities as a travelogue that resists truth telling but is nevertheless not quite a traveler's tall tale.

English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton

Abstract: English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton examines the history of early English books, exploring the concept of putting the English language into print with close study of the texts, the formats, the audiences, and the functions of English books. Lavishly illustrated with more than 130 full-color images of stunning rare books, this volume investigates a full range of issues regarding the dissemination of English language and culture through printed works, including the standardization of typography, grammar, and spelling; the appearance of popular literature; and the development of school grammars and dictionaries. Valerie Hotchkiss and Fred C. Robinson provide engaging descriptions of more than a hundred early English books drawn from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the Elizabethan Club of Yale University. The study nearly mirrors the chronological coverage of Pollard and Redgrave's famous Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), beginning with William Caxton, England's first printer, and ending with John Milton, the English language's most eloquent defender of the freedom of the press in his Areopagitica of 1644. William Shakespeare, neither a printer nor a writer much concerned with publishing his own plays, nonetheless deserves his central place in this study because Shakespeare imprints, and Renaissance drama in general, provide a fascinating window on the world of English printing in the period between Caxton and Milton.

Central women characters and their influence in Shakespeare, with particular reference to the Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra

Abstract: A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009.