Thomas Deloney

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Atkins, J. W. H. "Elizabethan Prose Fiction." In The Cambridge History of English Literature, edited by A. W. Ward and A. R. Waller, pp. 386–424. New York: Macmillan, 1933.

In a brief discussion of Deloney's novels (pp. 417–23), Atkins commends the writer's direct prose style, his robust humor, and his multi-faceted depiction of Elizabethan life.

Baker, Ernest A. "Deloney and Others." In his The History of the English Novel, pp. 170–99. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1929.

This highly significant appraisal of Deloney's prose fiction evaluates the novels' sources and construction, comments on Deloney's idiosyncratic characters, and calls attention to his lively dialogue.

Devine, Paul. "Unity and Meaning in Thomas Deloney's Thomas of Reading." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen LXXXVII, No. 4 (1986):578–93.

This essay studies the structural unity and political meaning of Thomas of Reading, a work which Devine claims anticipates not only the English novel, but also the English revolution and civil war.

Domnarski, William. "A Different Thomas Deloney: Thomas of Reading Reconsidered." Renaissance and Reformation VI, No. XVIII (August 1982): 197–202.

Maintains that Thomas of Reading offers a penetrating, realistic analysis of the social tensions created by radical changes in the Elizabethan economic system.

Howarth, R. G. "Thomas Deloney." In his Two Elizabethan Writers of Fiction: Thomas Nashe and Thomas Deloney, pp. 41–4. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 1956.

Remarks on Deloney's treatment of class distinctions in Elizabethan England as well as the unusual blending of factual details and traditional story motifs in his novels.

Lawlis, Merritt E. Apology for the Middle Class: The Dramatic Novels of Thomas Deloney. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960, 165p.

In this major contribution to commentary on Deloney, Lawlis emphasizes the writer's originality and provides in-depth analyses of his various styles, the structure of his novels, and his methods of characterization.

Lewis, Iola E. "Thomas Deloney." In her The Masses in the Realistic Prose Fiction of Representative English Writers during the Elizabethan Age, pp. 22–29. Baton Rouge: Ortlieb Press, 1964, 38 p.

Claims that Deloney's sympathetic treatment of his fellow craftsmen produced a one-sided portrayal of their virtues—with minimal attention to their less than admirable qualities.

Margolies, David. "Thomas Deloney." In his Novel and Society in Elizabethan England, pp. 144–57. London: Croom Helm, 1985.

Describing Deloney as a propagandist for the new industrial bourgeoisie, Margolies asserts that the novelist depicted Elizabethan industrialists as major contributors to the social and economic welfare of the country.

O'Connell, Laura Stevenson. "The Elizabethan Bourgeois Hero-Tale: Aspects of an Adolescent Social Consciousness." In After the Reformation: Essays in Honor of J. H. Hexter, edited by Barbara C. Malament, pp. 267–90. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980.

A comparative analysis of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century writers—including Deloney—whose works feature the achievements of merchants and craftsmen. O'Connell refers to Deloney as "the best and most influential creator of bourgeois tales." (See Stevenson, Laura Caroline, below.)

Pätzold, Kurt-Michael. "Thomas Deloney and the English Jest-Book Tradition." English Studies 53, No. 4 (August 1972): 313–28.

Examines Deloney's adaptations of incidents and characters from popular tales and jest books; Pätzold argues that the novelist transformed this material, adding realistic details and providing more plausible characterization.

Powys, Llewelyn. "Thomas Deloney." Virginia Quarterly Review 9 (October 1933): 578–94.

In a highly laudatory appraisal, Powys emphasizes the vivid realism of Deloney's novels and compares him to Cervantes and Rabelais.

Reuter, O. R. "Some Notes on Thomas Deloney's Indebtedness to Shakespeare." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen LXXXVII, No. 2 (1986): 255–61.

Identifies in Deloney's novels twenty-six passages derived from Shakespeare's poems and plays. Reuter argues that these borrowings show Deloney was "a close reader and a great admirer" of Shakespeare.

Salzman, Paul. "Thomas Deloney." In his English Prose Fiction 1558–1700: A Critical History, pp. 101–09. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.

Compares the optimistic viewpoint and diffuse structure of Jack of Newbury and The Gentle Craft with the darker perspective and tighter construction of Thomas of Reading.

Stevenson, Laura Caroline. "Lessons in Diligence and Thrift." In her Praise and Paradox: Merchants and Craftsmen in Elizabethan Popular Literature, pp. 131–57. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

The critic's comments here—on Jack of Newbury, the two parts of The Gentle Craft, and Thomas of Reading—represent a slight modification of her 1976 essay on Deloney, which is excerpted above.

Suzuki, Mihoko. "The London Apprentice Riots of the 1590s and the Fiction of Thomas Deloney." Criticism 38, No. 2 (Spring 1996): 181–217.

The critic discerns an equivocal perspective in both Jack of Newbury and Thomas of Reading. She contends that although Deloney challenges the prevailing social order, he also upholds traditional male English suspicion of foreigners and powerful women.

Wright, Eugene P. "The Prose Works." In his Thomas Deloney, pp. 51–117. Boston: Twayne, 1981, 150 p.

A close analysis of Deloney's novels, including their sources, style, structure, and characterization. Wright finds in all of them an overarching theme of individual obligation to promote the common good.

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