Bethan Davies

Research interests

Early modern drama and performance; material culture; food history; history of intoxicants; history of the body; gender studies. I was the recipient of a Techne doctoral studentship, funded by the AHRC.

My doctoral research examined the global and domestic intersections of sugar and femininity in early modern English drama and culture. I considered how constructions of class, nationhood, and race are woven into cultural discourses on sugar, and mould representations of femininity in early modern drama. I focused largely on the plays of Thomas Middleton, who shows a sustained interest in the potential of sugar’s feminized affective life across his dramatic canon. By attending to this mutually constitutive relationship between sugar and femininity, the thesis argued for the importance of sugar in early modern negotiations of gender identity, as well as highlighting the significance of Middleton to broader questions surrounding early modern gender, material culture, and emergent colonial commodities. 

In 2022-3, I was an academic researcher for the BBC History Podcast 'You're Dead to Me', helping to produce shows on a range of topics, including the seventeenth century French opera singer Julie d'Aubigny, and Georgian love and courtship. I also completed a placement at The National Archives researching the High Court of Admiralty records, and working on various education, outreach and engagement projects. I have worked as an Education Content Creator at The National Archives since 2023.

Teaching

Shakespeare in London (BA)

Hidden London (BA)

Afterlives: Ancient Gods and Heroes in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (BA)

Writing for Young Readers (MA)

Professional Affiliations

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Links

Bluesky: Bethan Davies

Revels Office: a virtual network for early modern PhD students and ECRs, founded by Anouska Lester and Sierra Carter.