Right Romance

Right Romance, volume 1, by Emily Griffiths Jones provides a scholarly examination of the complex intersections between romance, religion, and politics in England from 1588 to 1688. This work of literary criticism explores how writers navigated a politically turbulent era by using romance as a multigeneric narrative strategy to build diverse ideological communities. Jones challenges the notion that romance was merely a short-lived mode linked to royalist politics, showing instead how Puritan republicans also utilized the form for political resistance and solace.

The text analyzes influential works such as Philip Sidney's New Arcadia and Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene to understand their impact on seventeenth-century writing. By pairing authors from opposing sides of the English Civil War, including John Milton and Margaret Cavendish, the book illuminates ongoing ideological struggles. Right Romance investigates how these narratives shaped national, communal, and personal identity within the Renaissance period, offering a sophisticated look at English literary history.