Drama at the Courts of Henrietta Maria (review)
raised to political prominence after his father’s death by merit not blood. Ng also casts canonical authors in a new light: her analysis of the dynamic fraternal relations of Paradise Lost, for example, concludes with an innovative discussion of Eve as an analogical younger brother — a seemingly secondary figure whose belatedness actually augurs social and religious renewal. In a similarly sophisticated reading, she shows how Margaret Cavendish’s old Cavalier values clash with Restoration sexual and state politics. It may be an overstatement to align Cavendish with “radicalism” (141), but Ng’s revelation of fissures within Restoration Royalism is subtle and persuasive. Reading across the boundaries of political affiliation and genre, this book brilliantly elucidates the variable and hotly-contested nature of parallels between family and state in this turbulent period. Literature and the Politics of Family will prove invaluable to scholars of seventeenth-century literature, political culture, and gender politics. CATHARINE GRAY University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign