Michelle Ephraim is Associate Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA.

'...Ephraim’s accomplished and beautifully written study opens a new window on the equivocal hope and uncertainty that Elizabeth and the Hebrew Bible inspired in Reformation England.' Rachel Trubowitz, University of New Hampshire, USA ’This book is a must-have for anyone concerned with Shakespeare or early modern English performance. It is a must-have for feminist critics of theater and for those who are interested in representations of Jews onstage. Its clarity makes it useful for upper-division undergraduates, but its depth and breadth make it appropriate for a graduate seminar. All readers will find this book engrossing, a versatile bridge uniting many discourses of theatrical history and criticism.’ Comparative Drama ’... Ephriam's argument contributes important observations about the sexual, political, and religious significations of Jewish women on the Elizabethan stage.’Theatre Research International

• Introduction; Chapter 1 The Emerging Female Monarch in The Godly Queene Hester; Chapter 2 Maternal Authority in The Historie of Jacob and Esau; Chapter 3 The Reader as Voyeur: Thomas Garter's The Virtuous and Godly Susanna and George Peele's The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe; Chapter 4 Reading the Sacrificed Daughter in George Buchanan's Jephthes Sive Votum Tragoedia; Chapter 5 I'll sacrifice her on a pile of wood: Abigail's Roles in The Jew of Malta; Chapter 6 Her “flesh and blood”?: Jessica's Mother in The Merchant of Venice; Chapter 7 Epilogue;

Michelle Ephraim is Associate Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA.

'...Ephraim’s accomplished and beautifully written study opens a new window on the equivocal hope and uncertainty that Elizabeth and the Hebrew Bible inspired in Reformation England.' Rachel Trubowitz, University of New Hampshire, USA ’This book is a must-have for anyone concerned with Shakespeare or early modern English performance. It is a must-have for feminist critics of theater and for those who are interested in representations of Jews onstage. Its clarity makes it useful for upper-division undergraduates, but its depth and breadth make it appropriate for a graduate seminar. All readers will find this book engrossing, a versatile bridge uniting many discourses of theatrical history and criticism.’ Comparative Drama ’... Ephriam's argument contributes important observations about the sexual, political, and religious significations of Jewish women on the Elizabethan stage.’Theatre Research International

• Introduction; Chapter 1 The Emerging Female Monarch in The Godly Queene Hester; Chapter 2 Maternal Authority in The Historie of Jacob and Esau; Chapter 3 The Reader as Voyeur: Thomas Garter's The Virtuous and Godly Susanna and George Peele's The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe; Chapter 4 Reading the Sacrificed Daughter in George Buchanan's Jephthes Sive Votum Tragoedia; Chapter 5 I'll sacrifice her on a pile of wood: Abigail's Roles in The Jew of Malta; Chapter 6 Her “flesh and blood”?: Jessica's Mother in The Merchant of Venice; Chapter 7 Epilogue;

Michelle Ephraim is Associate Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA.

'...Ephraim’s accomplished and beautifully written study opens a new window on the equivocal hope and uncertainty that Elizabeth and the Hebrew Bible inspired in Reformation England.' Rachel Trubowitz, University of New Hampshire, USA ’This book is a must-have for anyone concerned with Shakespeare or early modern English performance. It is a must-have for feminist critics of theater and for those who are interested in representations of Jews onstage. Its clarity makes it useful for upper-division undergraduates, but its depth and breadth make it appropriate for a graduate seminar. All readers will find this book engrossing, a versatile bridge uniting many discourses of theatrical history and criticism.’ Comparative Drama ’... Ephriam's argument contributes important observations about the sexual, political, and religious significations of Jewish women on the Elizabethan stage.’Theatre Research International

• Introduction; Chapter 1 The Emerging Female Monarch in The Godly Queene Hester; Chapter 2 Maternal Authority in The Historie of Jacob and Esau; Chapter 3 The Reader as Voyeur: Thomas Garter's The Virtuous and Godly Susanna and George Peele's The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe; Chapter 4 Reading the Sacrificed Daughter in George Buchanan's Jephthes Sive Votum Tragoedia; Chapter 5 I'll sacrifice her on a pile of wood: Abigail's Roles in The Jew of Malta; Chapter 6 Her “flesh and blood”?: Jessica's Mother in The Merchant of Venice; Chapter 7 Epilogue;