JOANNA SUMMERS
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199271290
- eISBN:
- 9780191709586
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271290.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter examines Thomas Usk's imprisonment and its causes, and discusses how Usk's text, The Testament of Love, invites the reader to view the ‘I’ voice as the author's presented ...
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This chapter examines Thomas Usk's imprisonment and its causes, and discusses how Usk's text, The Testament of Love, invites the reader to view the ‘I’ voice as the author's presented autobiographical identity. It demonstrates how this identity is constructed favourably through intertextuality and the comparison with exemplars from literature, scripture, and history; in particular Boethius, Chaucer, Gower, and St Anselm. The chapter also examines how The Testament deploys elements from Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, emulating its structure and borrowing from its content. It also discusses Usk's allusions to John Gower's Vox Clamantis and his political reasons for so doing. Finally, the chapter examines Usk's reasons for such artful self-depiction, discussing the intended audience of The Testament of Love, Usk's political motivations, and how his textual identity is designed to impact upon extra-textual concerns.Less
This chapter examines Thomas Usk's imprisonment and its causes, and discusses how Usk's text, The Testament of Love, invites the reader to view the ‘I’ voice as the author's presented autobiographical identity. It demonstrates how this identity is constructed favourably through intertextuality and the comparison with exemplars from literature, scripture, and history; in particular Boethius, Chaucer, Gower, and St Anselm. The chapter also examines how The Testament deploys elements from Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, emulating its structure and borrowing from its content. It also discusses Usk's allusions to John Gower's Vox Clamantis and his political reasons for so doing. Finally, the chapter examines Usk's reasons for such artful self-depiction, discussing the intended audience of The Testament of Love, Usk's political motivations, and how his textual identity is designed to impact upon extra-textual concerns.
MARION TURNER
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199207893
- eISBN:
- 9780191709142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207893.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter examines the writings of Thomas Usk, early reader of Geoffrey Chaucer and notorious London factionalist. A man who experienced at first hand — and participated in — the treachery, ...
More
This chapter examines the writings of Thomas Usk, early reader of Geoffrey Chaucer and notorious London factionalist. A man who experienced at first hand — and participated in — the treachery, self-interest, and violence of London society, Usk both fantasised about social coherence, and proved unable to sustain that fantasy. This chapter charts Usk's bids to enter political and textual communities: Chaucer's textual community, the world of city governance, and a courtly Ricardian community. In each case, his text works against his overt desires, and complicates his political and social constructs: an awareness of social antagonism seeps through the interstices of Usk's text, challenging an idea of social coherence and fragmenting his imagined community. His attempts to write himself into unified textual and political communities falter, as his text reveals the impossibility of such stability.Less
This chapter examines the writings of Thomas Usk, early reader of Geoffrey Chaucer and notorious London factionalist. A man who experienced at first hand — and participated in — the treachery, self-interest, and violence of London society, Usk both fantasised about social coherence, and proved unable to sustain that fantasy. This chapter charts Usk's bids to enter political and textual communities: Chaucer's textual community, the world of city governance, and a courtly Ricardian community. In each case, his text works against his overt desires, and complicates his political and social constructs: an awareness of social antagonism seeps through the interstices of Usk's text, challenging an idea of social coherence and fragmenting his imagined community. His attempts to write himself into unified textual and political communities falter, as his text reveals the impossibility of such stability.
Joanna Summers
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199271290
- eISBN:
- 9780191709586
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271290.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy has long been taken as one of the seminal works of the Middle Ages, yet despite the study of many aspects of the Consolation's influence, the legacy of the figure ...
More
Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy has long been taken as one of the seminal works of the Middle Ages, yet despite the study of many aspects of the Consolation's influence, the legacy of the figure of the writer in prison has not been explored. A group of late-medieval authors — Thomas Usk, James I of Scotland, Charles d'Orléans, George Ashby, William Thorpe, Richard Wyche, and Sir Thomas Malory — demonstrate the ways in which the imprisoned writer is presented both within and outside the Boethian tradition. Each of these writers inscribes himself and his imprisoned situation within his text. This book examines, therefore, whether each text invites a reading as autobiography. In many of the texts there are clear signs of intertextual reference; this book questions whether such reference to contemporary discourse or literary authority is incorporated for the purposes of a politically-motivated self-presentation as opposed to a concern with literary aesthetics or formal or philosophical considerations. It examines whether the self-presentation of each writer has a motivation of self-justification or self-promotion, leading to a manipulation of historical evidence for political ends, as the persuasion of the audience, whether this is envisaged as coterie, patron, heretical sect, or opponent is effected through the manipulation of these devices. Late-Medieval Prison Writing also questions whether the group of texts constitutes a genre of early autobiographical prison literature in its own right.Less
Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy has long been taken as one of the seminal works of the Middle Ages, yet despite the study of many aspects of the Consolation's influence, the legacy of the figure of the writer in prison has not been explored. A group of late-medieval authors — Thomas Usk, James I of Scotland, Charles d'Orléans, George Ashby, William Thorpe, Richard Wyche, and Sir Thomas Malory — demonstrate the ways in which the imprisoned writer is presented both within and outside the Boethian tradition. Each of these writers inscribes himself and his imprisoned situation within his text. This book examines, therefore, whether each text invites a reading as autobiography. In many of the texts there are clear signs of intertextual reference; this book questions whether such reference to contemporary discourse or literary authority is incorporated for the purposes of a politically-motivated self-presentation as opposed to a concern with literary aesthetics or formal or philosophical considerations. It examines whether the self-presentation of each writer has a motivation of self-justification or self-promotion, leading to a manipulation of historical evidence for political ends, as the persuasion of the audience, whether this is envisaged as coterie, patron, heretical sect, or opponent is effected through the manipulation of these devices. Late-Medieval Prison Writing also questions whether the group of texts constitutes a genre of early autobiographical prison literature in its own right.
