Nashe’s (Self-)Portrait of a Town
Author(s)
Viviani, Valerio
Date Issued
2018
Type
article
Volume
4
Issue
1
Start Page
201
End Page
211
Abstract
Thomas Nashe took refuge in Yarmouth after his involvement in The Isle of Dogs scandal. In
the coastal town he found hospitality and in 1598, during Lent, he started working on his pamphlet Lenten Stuff: an encomium of Yarmouth and of its major resource, the herring, in which
history and myth are freely intermingled. With a focus upon the relation between that play
and that later mock-encomium, the aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss Nashe’s peculiar
mythical method as a means of celebrating the town and, above all, his own writing.
Subjects