Book contents
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Plants
- Chapter 1 Trees, Kings, Christ
- Chapter 2 Pansies, Queens, Midwives
- Part II Places
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 2 - Pansies, Queens, Midwives
Fairy Flowers, Travellers’ Tales and Domestic Practice in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
from Part I - Plants
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
Book contents
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Botanical Culture and Popular Belief in Shakespeare’s England
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Plants
- Chapter 1 Trees, Kings, Christ
- Chapter 2 Pansies, Queens, Midwives
- Part II Places
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter reads A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the context of Elizabethan botanical privateering, the trade in printed herbals, and Elizabeth I’s personal association with the pansy. It argues that privateering was an advetnure for people of all social groups through which national and civic identity was worked out in botanical terms. It looks especially at the botanically-adorned baby in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the context of early modern naval trade, national competition and the illicit movement of children.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025