Recovering Disability in Early Modern England

Recovering Disability in Early Modern England, Volume 1, offers a rigorous examination of disability and disabled identities within sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. While historical identity studies frequently address class, race, and gender, this literary criticism collection addresses the significant omission of disability in English Renaissance scholarship. The text argues that representations of impaired bodies and minds are fundamental to understanding early modern subjectivities. By applying disability studies as a theoretical lens, the work reanimates academic dialogue regarding human variation and historical difference.

This scholarly volume features ten essays that span various genres and historical scopes. Contributions analyze diverse topics such as court dwarfs in Spenserian poetry, madness in revenge tragedies, and the materiality of blindness in literature. The collection also investigates the political implications of ableist philosophies in the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Recovering Disability in Early Modern England, Volume 1, provides a necessary framework for analyzing how disability shaped the cultural and political landscape of the era.