Thomas Nashe's Anatomy of Venice in The Unfortunate Traveller or the Life of Jack Wilton (1594): Utopia Revisited1

Although most critics have focused on the overall negative aspect of Jack Wilton's Italian tour in The Unfortunate Traveller (1594), as suggested in the title of Thomas Nashe's prose fiction, the specificity of the narrator's Venetian adventures should be examined more closely. This p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMoreana (Angers) Vol. 47; no. 181/182; p. 187
Main Author Geoffroy, Anne
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Angers Edinburgh University Press 01.12.2010
Subjects
Aretino, Pietro (1492-1556)
Autobiographical literature
Dramatists
Fiction
Irony
Literary criticism
More, Thomas (1478-1535)
Nash, Thomas (1567-1601)
Prose
Travel
Wilton, Jack
Venice Italy
Italy
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Summary:Although most critics have focused on the overall negative aspect of Jack Wilton's Italian tour in The Unfortunate Traveller (1594), as suggested in the title of Thomas Nashe's prose fiction, the specificity of the narrator's Venetian adventures should be examined more closely. This paper argues that Thomas Nashe's representation of Venice needs to be reassessed in the context of Thomas More's Utopia and the question of the ideal commonwealth. Notwithstanding Nashe's reliance on pervasive irony, the author provides an image of the city-state which - thanks to a retrospective approach - puts the topic of alternative urban spaces in the early modern period into perspective. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0047-8105
2398-4961