About

Welcome to English-Renaissance.com!

Why, Who Am I, My Mungrel! Who Am I?

My name is David Hurley. After graduating from the University of York, with a 2:1 (hons) degree in Politics and English Literature in 1985, I spent several years teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in England, Italy, Germany and Japan.

In 1997 I returned to York to study a master’s degree in English Renaissance literature, concentrating on the works of Francis Bacon & how they were influenced by Machiavelli, the role of Renaissance magic and Renaissance theories of the imagination.

I returned to Japan in 1999 where I work as a freelance English language instructor, language consultant and Internet marketing services provider.

English Renaissance Studies

English-Renassance.com is dedicated to publishing essays, reviews and other resources on the writers of the English Renaissance, with particular reference to the works of Shakespeare and Bacon and on those who influenced them.

My particular focus has been on the interaction between character and political strategy, or virtue and power, and the influence of Machiavellian thought. So far I have written three papers which discuss that theme in relation to certain aspects of Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew. Prior to their publication on this site, the Shakespeare papers were published in consecutive editions of Studies in English Language and Literature, published by Hiroshima Jogakuin University, Japan.

In 2009, I gave an introductory talk on the reception of Machiavelli’s thought in Tudor England to a Hiroshima-based study group called Sekai O Miru Kai.

I am currently writing a paper relating Machiavelli‘s comments on the management of secretaries in The Prince to the power relationship between Othello and Iago. I am also  researching a paper about the political implications of fratricide in Hamlet as viewed from a Machiavellian perspective and what that reveals about Shakespeare’s tragic vision.

If you have any queries or suggestions, or if you would like to submit a paper for publication, contact me via the contact page.

I hope you enjoy browsing this site.

David Hurley
Hiroshima, Japan
August 2010