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The Cauldron and the Threat of the "Other" in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Middleton's The Witch, and Marlowe's The Jew of Malta
Full text linkAs a theatrical element, the cauldron is perhaps most famously associated with the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (c.1606) and Middleton’s The Witch (c.1613-1616). However, this essay proposes that the cauldron in the early modern theatre is not merely a physical signifier, or even an innate trope, of witchcraft. For example, Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (c.1590) effectively utilises cauldrons for symbolic and dramatic effect, even though these cauldrons are not explicitly suggestive of witchcraft or magic. Marlowe’s cauldrons are instead the murderous tools, and ultimately the divine punishment, of Barabas – a Jew. This essay will demonstrate that the cauldron signifies the threat of the associated characters through a threefold symbolism: firstly, because the cauldron was so integral to life and sustenance as one of the primary cooking vessels in the early modern household, there was a perpetual, underlying threat if it were to be misused; secondly, the long-established iconography of the cauldron serves to emphasise the connection between the user, Hell, and the Devil, and thereby the user’s evil nature; and thirdly, the cauldron is a distinctly feminine object and is accordingly used for either emasculation or misogyny. In this way, the cauldron suggests an implicit link between Judaism and witchcraft in that both, by association with the object of the cauldron, are demonic, villainous, and dangerous to early modern Christian society. 
The Employment of Touch in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II
Full text linkChristopher Marlowe’s Edward II demonstrates the power embodied in the sense of touch as it breaks down and reveals the transitory nature of socially-constructed boundaries such as formal behaviour, contemporary terms of sexuality, and social class. While Marlowe employs metaphor to convey the sense, his engagement remains strikingly literal. This article begins by providing a brief overview of the queer, historical, and political critical analysis of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (1594). I investigate how Marlowe details moments of male-male affective intimacy between King Edward II and his favourite, Gaveston, through physical contact which breaks with formality and which merges the men together into a composite body or complete “self”. As tension arises between the body natural and the body politic, precious objects such as the miniature temporarily substitute tactile pleasures between the men. I continue by exploring how touching and being touched between the king and his favourite vie with and surpass intimacy between the king and queen and how it additionally extends beyond desire into a demonstration of power. Negotiations are made, accepted, and rejected through corporeal contact and public displays of affection define and signal markers of social status. I then move on to establish that while private moments of intimacy between men remain unproblematic, they are shaped not only by those who create them but by those who interpret them. The elite perceive ambition of the lower-class favourite rather than desire as the driving influence behind sexual touch and their fear lies in the wider implications of a redistribution of power and of the contamination of the social classes. This essay therefore aims to demonstrate how Marlowe understands touch not as a base sense, but as a complex primal force which moves outwards from the habitual and interweaves the sexual, social, and political
Anne Dowriche, The French Historie, ed. Joanne Paul (CRRS, 2024)
Full text linkA review of Joanne Paul's new edition of Anne Dowriche's poem, The French Historie
Factors Influencing Consumer Adoption of Digital-Only Banks in the UK.
Full text linkThis study aims to develop and empirically test a conceptual model based on Unified Technology Adoption and Usage Theory-2 to understand factors influencing the adoption of digital-only banking services in the UK. The proposed model integrates fintech-specific themes such as perceived risk, trust, security, environmental concerns, micro-investing opportunities, financial incentives, and cryptocurrency access with established UTAUT-2 technology adoption theory framework. Hypotheses were formulated to assess relationships between these constructs and behavioural intention to adoption. Structural equation modelling with SMART PLS-4 software was used to test the relationship between independent variables with the dependant variable. Data from 391 respondents, collected via an online survey using convenience and purposive sampling, was analysed. Findings indicate that behavioural intention towards adopting digital-only banks is significantly influenced by environmental concerns, performance expectancy, perceived risk, hedonic motivation, security, trust, social influence, and micro-investing opportunities. The model’s explanatory power R² stood at 31%, suggesting moderate predictive strength. The study provides insights into the adoption drivers for digital-only banks in the UK, offering practical implications for fintech managers, developers, and policymakers aiming to foster growth and innovation in the sector. These findings contribute to filling a research gap in digital-only bank adoption
Kit Heyam, The Reputation of Edward II, 1305–1697: A Literary Transformation of History (Amsterdam University Press, 2020)
Full text linkA review of Kit Heyam's book The Reputation of Edward II, 1305–1697, published by Amsterdam University Press in 2020
William E. Engel, Rory Loughnane, and Grant Williams, eds. Memory and Mortality in Renaissance England (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Pp. 311
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Titania and the Things that Go Bump in the Night
Full text linkA major plot in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the ‘distemperature’ of the seasons caused by a row between Titania and Oberon. Within the play Titania and other female characters express concerns about the environment reminiscent of eco-anxiety. One example of this is fear of snakes, which can be linked to the early modern motif that the animals sometimes slither into sleeping people’s mouths. Another example is Titania’s lullaby, a kind of magic bug-spray, sung to banish all ill-omened creatures. At the end of Act II, Oberon’s fairy eye-drops seem to act as an anti-anxiety medicine and for a short time the Fairy Queen along with others, is once again able to relate to the environment in a freer, less fearful way
Christopher Marlowe, Dido, Queen of Carthage, The Revels Plays, ed. Ruth Lunney (Manchester University Press, 2023)
No full textA review of Ruth Lunney's new Revels edition of Dido, Queen of Carthag
