Margret Fetzer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719083440
- eISBN:
- 9781781700051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719083440.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter introduces John Donne, a writer whose work has been analysed for traces of his precise religious allegiances, noting that the current study has chosen some of Donne's poems and aims to ...
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This chapter introduces John Donne, a writer whose work has been analysed for traces of his precise religious allegiances, noting that the current study has chosen some of Donne's poems and aims to study his texts as performances, with little to no regard for the underlying ‘meanings’ found in the texts. It then studies the concept of performance and several performance theories, arguing the merits of conducting a performative analysis on texts from the early modern period. Finally, the chapter explains why John Donne – along with several of his works – was chosen to be analysed for the present study.Less
This chapter introduces John Donne, a writer whose work has been analysed for traces of his precise religious allegiances, noting that the current study has chosen some of Donne's poems and aims to study his texts as performances, with little to no regard for the underlying ‘meanings’ found in the texts. It then studies the concept of performance and several performance theories, arguing the merits of conducting a performative analysis on texts from the early modern period. Finally, the chapter explains why John Donne – along with several of his works – was chosen to be analysed for the present study.
Ulrike Zimmermann
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719088636
- eISBN:
- 9781781706893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088636.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Ulrike Zimmermann marks the link between death and desire (in religious and sexual terms) as one of the key features of ‘Gothic affinities in metaphysical poetry’. Her reading of Donne’s poetry ...
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Ulrike Zimmermann marks the link between death and desire (in religious and sexual terms) as one of the key features of ‘Gothic affinities in metaphysical poetry’. Her reading of Donne’s poetry foregrounds the proto-Gothic mode as a way to deal critically with historical and cultural heritage, particularly with Petrarchan love poetry via assimilation, parody, and distortion through notions of excess and literalization, as in ‘The Dampe’, where the speaker’s deadly female lover is scrutinised with medical expertise.Less
Ulrike Zimmermann marks the link between death and desire (in religious and sexual terms) as one of the key features of ‘Gothic affinities in metaphysical poetry’. Her reading of Donne’s poetry foregrounds the proto-Gothic mode as a way to deal critically with historical and cultural heritage, particularly with Petrarchan love poetry via assimilation, parody, and distortion through notions of excess and literalization, as in ‘The Dampe’, where the speaker’s deadly female lover is scrutinised with medical expertise.
Margret Fetzer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719083440
- eISBN:
- 9781781700051
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719083440.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Ever since their rediscovery in the 1920s, John Donne's writings have been praised for their energy, vigour and drama – yet so far, no attempt has been made to approach and systematically define ...
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Ever since their rediscovery in the 1920s, John Donne's writings have been praised for their energy, vigour and drama – yet so far, no attempt has been made to approach and systematically define these major characteristics of his work. Drawing on J. L. Austin's speech act theory, this comparative reading of Donne's poetry and prose eschews questions of personal or religious sincerity, and instead recreates an image of Donne as a man of many performances. No matter if engaged in the writing of a sermon or a piece of erotic poetry, Donne placed enormous trust in what words could do. Questions as to how saying something may actually bring about that very thing, or how playing the part of someone else affects an actor's identity, are central to his oeuvre – and moreover, highly relevant in the cultural and theological contexts of the early modern period in general. Rather than his particular political or religious allegiances, Donne's preoccupation with linguistic performativity and theatrical efficaciousness is responsible for the dialogical involvedness of his sermons, the provocations of his worldly and divine poems, the aggressive patronage seeking of his letters, and the interpersonal engagement of his Devotions. In treating both canonical and lesser-known Donne texts, this book hopes to make a significant contribution not only to Donne criticism and research into early modern culture, but, by using concepts of performance and performativity as its major theoretical backdrop, it aims to establish an interdisciplinary link with the field of performance studies.Less
Ever since their rediscovery in the 1920s, John Donne's writings have been praised for their energy, vigour and drama – yet so far, no attempt has been made to approach and systematically define these major characteristics of his work. Drawing on J. L. Austin's speech act theory, this comparative reading of Donne's poetry and prose eschews questions of personal or religious sincerity, and instead recreates an image of Donne as a man of many performances. No matter if engaged in the writing of a sermon or a piece of erotic poetry, Donne placed enormous trust in what words could do. Questions as to how saying something may actually bring about that very thing, or how playing the part of someone else affects an actor's identity, are central to his oeuvre – and moreover, highly relevant in the cultural and theological contexts of the early modern period in general. Rather than his particular political or religious allegiances, Donne's preoccupation with linguistic performativity and theatrical efficaciousness is responsible for the dialogical involvedness of his sermons, the provocations of his worldly and divine poems, the aggressive patronage seeking of his letters, and the interpersonal engagement of his Devotions. In treating both canonical and lesser-known Donne texts, this book hopes to make a significant contribution not only to Donne criticism and research into early modern culture, but, by using concepts of performance and performativity as its major theoretical backdrop, it aims to establish an interdisciplinary link with the field of performance studies.
Rachel E. Hile
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719088087
- eISBN:
- 9781526121073
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088087.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Chapter 5 considers two early works of Thomas Middleton with reference to the social and political context of the turn of the seventeenth century, with special attention to how the Bishops’ Ban of ...
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Chapter 5 considers two early works of Thomas Middleton with reference to the social and political context of the turn of the seventeenth century, with special attention to how the Bishops’ Ban of 1599, which banned several books and restricted the future publication of satirical works, affected the literary subfield of satire in England. Following the 1591 calling-in of Spenser’s Complaints volume, which included the satirical animal fable Mother Hubberds Tale, authors largely avoided publishing anything like an animal fable. This chapter argues, though, that the young Thomas Middleton wanted to signal his allegiance with the values and ideas espoused by Spenser, and that he does this indirectly in his 1599 Micro-Cynicon through allusions and analogies that render his formal verse satires circuitously Spenserian. Five years later, Middleton published a much more obviously Spenserian work that, with its nostalgia for Queen Elizabeth’s reign and use of talking insects and birds, suggests more fully the ongoing importance of Spenser as an inspiration to the young poet Middleton before he became the dramatist Middleton. The chapter closes by briefly contrasting the pervasive Spenserianism of the young Middleton with John Donne’s perhaps faddish use of animal fable in his Metempsychosis; Poêma Satyricon.Less
Chapter 5 considers two early works of Thomas Middleton with reference to the social and political context of the turn of the seventeenth century, with special attention to how the Bishops’ Ban of 1599, which banned several books and restricted the future publication of satirical works, affected the literary subfield of satire in England. Following the 1591 calling-in of Spenser’s Complaints volume, which included the satirical animal fable Mother Hubberds Tale, authors largely avoided publishing anything like an animal fable. This chapter argues, though, that the young Thomas Middleton wanted to signal his allegiance with the values and ideas espoused by Spenser, and that he does this indirectly in his 1599 Micro-Cynicon through allusions and analogies that render his formal verse satires circuitously Spenserian. Five years later, Middleton published a much more obviously Spenserian work that, with its nostalgia for Queen Elizabeth’s reign and use of talking insects and birds, suggests more fully the ongoing importance of Spenser as an inspiration to the young poet Middleton before he became the dramatist Middleton. The chapter closes by briefly contrasting the pervasive Spenserianism of the young Middleton with John Donne’s perhaps faddish use of animal fable in his Metempsychosis; Poêma Satyricon.
