The English Ambivalent Attitude towards Italy in the Renaissance: The Case of Gascoigne's Supposes

During the Early Modern Period, Italy and Italian culture were the target of great criticism by English writers, as for instance Roger Ascham. This attitude was exploited by a number of authors, such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, who portrayed Italy as politically chaotic, dissolute and morally corrupting. Elizabethan criticism towards Italy was based both on religious aspects, linked to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, as well as prejudice. Nevertheless, English culture benefitted from Anglo-Italian relations over the fifteenth and sixteenth century, since Italian Humanism and Renaissance brought new social, political and economic ideas and values, which modernized England. I clarify the context for this study in Chapter 1, which examines Anglo-Italian contacts in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, and the English ambiguous attitude to Italian culture, considering both negative perceptions and positive influence. Chapter 2 and 3 seek to illustrate how George Gascoigne's translation of Ludovico Ariosto's play ‘I Suppositi’ represent a striking example of the beneficial impact of Italian culture on English literature, also considering that ‘Supposes’ inspired Shakespeare for the renowned play ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.