Praise and Paradox explores the relationship of language, literary
structure, and social ideology in the popular Elizabethan literature
that praised merchants, industrialists and craftsmen. Part I defines a
canon of 296 popular vernacular works, relates the increasing popularity
of tales about tradesmen to the development of the English economy and
the expansion of the Elizabethan audience, and discusses the social
origins of the popular authors. Part II is concerned with the change of
the merchant's literary image from that of a greedy usurer to that of a
'businessman in armour' who defended his monarch on the battlefield and
entertained princes at lavish banquets. Part III discusses the change in
the literary image of the craftsman, who ceased to be a clown or a rebel
and became a 'gentle craftsman' who fought bravely on the battlefield
when necessary but was happier in his humble shop, where he sang,
danced, and courted pretty girls.