The Final Piece in the Puzzle - A book of poetry published under her own name.
This is the final piece of evidence we have to uncover the identity of Emilia Bassano; an extraordinary book of original verse published under her own name, late in her career; “Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum”. It was the first book of original verse by an English woman published to derive an income through sales and patronage.
On the surface it pretends to be a religious work but is in fact a highly subversive parody; a radical reinterpretation of the crucifixion story from a woman’s point of view. It includes such heresies as the denial of ‘original sin’ and Eve’s guilt, and treats the gospels as having no divine authority, so that she is free to change and invent characters and content, just as the Shakespeare works treat other literary sources.
Her book of verse, despite being a different literary form, is replete with common characteristics to the Shakespeare plays – characteristics rarely found in any other literature of the time. These include: Feminist themes, Intelligent complex women who resist societal restrictions, The same unique language and rare words, They draw on the same extensive list of literary sources, The most common references in her book of verse come from the Shakespeare works, Both works are highly experimental and innovative in their use of dramatic devices, Both works referenced the virtually unknown feminist writings of Catherine De Pizan, who is not referenced in any other literature of the time. These are just a few examples.
These commonalities with the plays, especially the late plays written about the same time, are so significant and unique to each other, that it is likely that they are by the same author, making Emilia Bassano the likely author of both works.
This is the final piece of evidence we have to uncover the identity of Emilia Bassano; an extraordinary book of original verse published under her own name, late in her career; “Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum”. It was the first book of original verse by an English woman published to derive an income through sales and patronage.
On the surface it pretends to be a religious work but is in fact a highly subversive parody; a radical reinterpretation of the crucifixion story from a woman’s point of view. It includes such heresies as the denial of ‘original sin’ and Eve’s guilt, and treats the gospels as having no divine authority, so that she is free to change and invent characters and content, just as the Shakespeare works treat other literary sources.
Her book of verse, despite being a different literary form, is replete with common characteristics to the Shakespeare plays – characteristics rarely found in any other literature of the time. These include: Feminist themes, Intelligent complex women who resist societal restrictions, The same unique language and rare words, They draw on the same extensive list of literary sources, The most common references in her book of verse come from the Shakespeare works, Both works are highly experimental and innovative in their use of dramatic devices, Both works referenced the virtually unknown feminist writings of Catherine De Pizan, who is not referenced in any other literature of the time. These are just a few examples.
These commonalities with the plays, especially the late plays written about the same time, are so significant and unique to each other, that it is likely that they are by the same author, making Emilia Bassano the likely author of both works.
