Dismantling France’s Manhood in the Prose Works of Holinshed and Sidney

Abstract

The socio-political dimension of the word ‘manhood’ is undoubtedly an indication of the superiority and advancement of the English over the rest of the neighboring countries, in particular France. These prose works define what nationalism is. Furthermore, it was also an indication that reflects the pride and supremacy of England and its citizens. This research aims to explore how the Elizabethans, through these two works, dealt with France and how manhood is deployed in their perspective, and how it is relevant to several epithets such as valor and courage. This study conducted a content analysis with the help of the excerpts from the two literary texts. The study concluded that in both literary works, the authors had shown religious and political bigotry and showed the influence of the Elizabethans. It depicted that Elizabethans were superior in having manhood as compared to the Frenchmen.