Rosalynde

Lodge, Thomas, 1558？-1625Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 277K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rosalynde by Thomas LodgeAuthor: Lodge, Thomas, 1558?-1625,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 29, 2005

Editor's review

Rosalynde is a prose romance written by the English author Thomas Lodge at the end of the 16th century, telling a story of love, exile, and mistaken identity in a pastoral mode. Its significance in literary history lies largely in the fact that it provided the main plot source for Shakespeare's As You Like It, making it valuable for understanding Shakespeare's adaptation and Renaissance narrative literature. The book is written in Elizabethan English, with ornate language and elaborate rhetoric, interspersed with poems and dialogue, and requires some patience in reading. It is suitable as supplementary reading for courses in English literary history and for readers interested in the sources of Shakespeare's material. As a public-domain e-book, the edition has no modern annotations, so it is advisable to read it alongside an annotated edition or relevant scholarly materials to reduce the language barrier.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature students studying the source material of Shakespeare's As You Like It
Readers interested in English Renaissance prose romance
Enthusiasts who want to learn about Elizabethan English style and pastoral literature

Not a good fit for

General readers accustomed to modern vernacular fiction and fast-paced plots
Beginners whose English reading level is not yet sufficient for early modern English

Reading tips

First learn the plot of As You Like It, then read this book alongside it to observe the differences in adaptation
Use an edition with modern annotations to aid understanding of archaic vocabulary and allusions
Read slowly chapter by chapter, paying attention to the poetic passages and rhetorical devices; there is no need to finish it in one sitting

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and Shakespeare?

Rosalynde is the main plot source of Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It. Core elements of the play, such as exile, a woman disguised as a man, and pastoral love, are mostly taken from Lodge's prose romance; reading the two side by side clearly shows how Shakespeare adapted and refined his material.

Can I understand it without annotations?

This book is a public-domain electronic text and generally contains no modern annotations. The original uses late-16th-century English, whose vocabulary and syntax differ from contemporary English, and it also involves mythological allusions. It is advisable to read it with an annotated edition or relevant introductory materials; otherwise it will be quite difficult to understand.

Is this book suitable as an introductory text for English literary history?

It is better suited as supplementary material for the Renaissance prose section of an English literary history course rather than as an introductory text for complete beginners. Readers should ideally already have some background in English literary history and some familiarity with early modern English.

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About the author

Lodge, Thomas, 1558？-1625 Author · British · 1558–1625

Thomas Lodge (1558?–1625) was an English writer and physician of the Renaissance. Combining the roles of doctor and man of letters, he practiced medicine while remaining active in the literary world of the Elizabethan age. His representative works include the prose romance Rosalynde and the poems collected in Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles: Phillis - Licia. Lodge's romance narratives are marked by intricate plots and graceful language, often treating pastoral and amorous themes and reflecting the taste of contemporary English prose romance. Rosalynde in particular circulated widely and was later drawn upon by Shakespeare for his comedy As You Like It, showing the influence of Lodge's work on the drama of his time. Though not known for vast or monumental works, he earned a place in Renaissance English literature through his romances and sonnets.