King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.13 (666 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0877456690 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 260 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-12-03 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
What can we know of the private lives of early British sovereigns? Through the unusually large number of letters that survive from King James VI of Scotland/James I of England (1566-1625), we can know a great deal. These artful, self-conscious letters explore themes of absence, the pleasure of letters, and a preoccupation with the body. Bergeron argues that on the contrary they reveal an inward desire of king and subject in a mutual exchange of love.. James' letters to Carr reveal remarkable outbursts of sexual frustration and passion.A large collection of letters exchanged between James and Buckingham in the 1620s provides the clearest evidence for James' homoerotic desires. Across the centuries, commentators have condemned the letters as indecent or repulsive. Esmé Stuart, James' older French cousin, arrived in Scotland in 1579 and became an intimate adviser and friend to the adolescent king. Though Esmé was eventually forced into exile by Scottish nobles, his letters to James survive, as does James' hauntingly allegorical poem Phoenix. The king's close relationship with Carr began in 1607. Using original letters, primarily from the British Library and the National Library of Scotland, David Bergeron creatively argues tha
“Bergeron's exploration of letters between King James and three of his 'favorites' reveals an intimate world of collaborative homoerotics and sexual desire. Frantzen, author of Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from “Beowulf” to “Angels in America”. The lucid, lively narrative generously includes newly collected letters between the king and George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, passionate, touching, amazing missives that will interest every reader concerned with same-sex love in any age.”—Allen J
An impressive documentary history A Customer First and foremost, the letters between King James and his three male "favorites" are fascinating. Even the little, unintended cultural insights are interesting, for instance, that "gossip" meant godfather, that "Steenie" is short for Stephen, or that the king of Spain had given James an elephant as a gift.With the author's help in establishing the king's difficult . Fascinating, but a bit esoteric Richard Harrold I write this review from the perspective of one who is interested in reading about the history and documentation of same-sex love, but who is not an academic, a linguist, or has any special interest in the history of literary styles. I offer this explanation because while this book is tremendously fascinating in its historic and biographical material, it at times lo