Philip Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses

M. J. Kidnie (University of Western Ontario)
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In The Anatomie of Abuses Philip Stubbes attacks forcefully and at length both public and private English life, exposing to view – and, he hopes, correction – the supposed abuses of Elizabethan society. The book offers a wide-ranging social critique presented in the form of a dialogue between Philoponus, the educated, worldly-wise traveller, and Spudeus, the country yokel, who chat as they walk along about the manners of the people who live in the foreign land of England (“Ailgna” in the first three editions). These particular character names, which translate from the Greek as “hard worker” and “earnest student”, would have had scholastic resonances for many of Stubbes's readers. The former alludes to John …

924 words

Citation: Kidnie, M. J.. "The Anatomie of Abuses". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1595, accessed 22 November 2024.]

1595 The Anatomie of Abuses 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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