7. Literature and Religion in Early Modern England
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Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen
Abstract
This chapter first charts some of the important strands in recent scholarship on early modern English religious culture, with a focus on issues of change and continuity, religious difference, and the drawn-out character of the English Reformation. It then brings these issues to bear on the literature of early modern England, arguing for the mutually constitutive relation between that literature and its religious contexts. At the same time, the chapter suggests, literary texts could offer a special perspective on the religious culture of early modern England, offering a site where its many tensions and ambiguities could be examined and explored. The case studies presented in this chapter zoom in on religious understandings of physical sensation, ritual, and language, examining how dramatists and poets responded to changing early modern attitudes towards exorcism rituals and the experience of physical suffering.
Abstract
This chapter first charts some of the important strands in recent scholarship on early modern English religious culture, with a focus on issues of change and continuity, religious difference, and the drawn-out character of the English Reformation. It then brings these issues to bear on the literature of early modern England, arguing for the mutually constitutive relation between that literature and its religious contexts. At the same time, the chapter suggests, literary texts could offer a special perspective on the religious culture of early modern England, offering a site where its many tensions and ambiguities could be examined and explored. The case studies presented in this chapter zoom in on religious understandings of physical sensation, ritual, and language, examining how dramatists and poets responded to changing early modern attitudes towards exorcism rituals and the experience of physical suffering.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Editing English Renaissance Texts 27
- 2. Forms of Translation 46
- 3. New Ways of Worldmaking: English Renaissance Literature as ‘Early Modern’ 66
- 4. Theatre and Drama 89
- 5. Life-Writing: Encountering Selves 108
- 6. England and its Others 136
- 7. Literature and Religion in Early Modern England 155
- 8. Renaissance Englishwomen as Writers, Readers, and Patrons 182
- 9. Rhetoric and Literary Theory 203
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Part II: Close Readings
- 10. John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte (1499?) 225
- 11. Thomas More, Utopia (1516/1551) 244
- 12. William Baldwin, Beware the Cat (1553/1570) 265
- 13. Richard Tottel, Songes and Sonettes (1557) 280
- 14. John Lyly, Euphues (1578/1580) 295
- 15. Philip Sidney, The Two Arcadias (1577–1584) 311
- 16. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587) 331
- 17. Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590/1596) 352
- 18. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (c. 1588–1592) 376
- 19. Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) 395
- 20. William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595) 411
- 21. Francis Bacon, Essays (1597–1625) 425
- 22. Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) 444
- 23. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610) 464
- 24. Aemilia Lanyer, “The Description of Cooke-ham” (1611) 478
- 25. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–1651) 496
- 26. John Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (c. 1632) 516
- 27. John Donne, Songs and Sonnets (1633) 537
- 28. Thomas Carew and Inigo Jones, Coelum Britannicum (1634) 557
- 29. Andrew Marvell, Upon Appleton House (1651) 573
- 30. Margaret Cavendish, Poems, and Fancies (1653) 594
- 31. William Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (1656) 615
- 32. John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667/1674) 635
- Index of Names 661
- Index of Subjects 683
- List of Contributors 739
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Editing English Renaissance Texts 27
- 2. Forms of Translation 46
- 3. New Ways of Worldmaking: English Renaissance Literature as ‘Early Modern’ 66
- 4. Theatre and Drama 89
- 5. Life-Writing: Encountering Selves 108
- 6. England and its Others 136
- 7. Literature and Religion in Early Modern England 155
- 8. Renaissance Englishwomen as Writers, Readers, and Patrons 182
- 9. Rhetoric and Literary Theory 203
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 10. John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte (1499?) 225
- 11. Thomas More, Utopia (1516/1551) 244
- 12. William Baldwin, Beware the Cat (1553/1570) 265
- 13. Richard Tottel, Songes and Sonettes (1557) 280
- 14. John Lyly, Euphues (1578/1580) 295
- 15. Philip Sidney, The Two Arcadias (1577–1584) 311
- 16. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587) 331
- 17. Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590/1596) 352
- 18. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (c. 1588–1592) 376
- 19. Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) 395
- 20. William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595) 411
- 21. Francis Bacon, Essays (1597–1625) 425
- 22. Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) 444
- 23. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610) 464
- 24. Aemilia Lanyer, “The Description of Cooke-ham” (1611) 478
- 25. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621–1651) 496
- 26. John Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (c. 1632) 516
- 27. John Donne, Songs and Sonnets (1633) 537
- 28. Thomas Carew and Inigo Jones, Coelum Britannicum (1634) 557
- 29. Andrew Marvell, Upon Appleton House (1651) 573
- 30. Margaret Cavendish, Poems, and Fancies (1653) 594
- 31. William Davenant, The Siege of Rhodes (1656) 615
- 32. John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667/1674) 635
- Index of Names 661
- Index of Subjects 683
- List of Contributors 739