The renaissance of emotion : understanding affect in Shakespeare and his contemporaries / edited by Richard Meek and Erin Sullivan.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Meek, Richard, 1975-

Sullivan, Erin (Cultural historian)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Criticism and interpretation.

Emotions in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xi, 276 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2015.

Summary:

This collection of essays offers a major reassessment of the meaning and significance of emotional experience in the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Recent scholarship on early modern emotion has relied on a medical-historical approach, resulting in a picture of emotional experience that stresses the dominance of the material, humoral body. While such scholarship has been important in foregrounding questions related to historical phenomenology and embodiment, it has obscured the extent to which other intellectual and creative frameworks including religion, philosophy, rhetoric and drama - also shaped cultural beliefs about emotion in the period. The Renaissance of Emotion seeks to redress this balance by examining the ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries explored emotional experience from perspectives other than humoral medicine. Bringing together an international group of established and emerging scholars, the volume demonstrates how open, creative and agency-ridden the experience and interpretation of early modern emotion could be. Taken individually, the chapters offer much-needed investigations into previously overlooked areas of emotional experience and signification; taken together, they offer a thorough re-evaluation of the cultural priorities and phenomenological principles that shaped the understanding of the emotive self in the early modern period. The Renaissance of Emotion will be of particular interest to students and scholars of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature, the history of emotion, theatre and cultural history, and the history of ideas. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I The theology and philosophy of emotion

1 The passions of Thomas Wright; Renaissance emotion across body and soul / Erin Sullivan Sullivan, Erin 25

2 'The Scripture moveth us in sundry places': framing biblical emotions in the Book of Common Prayer and the Homilies / David Bagchi Bagchi, David 45

3 'This was a way to thrive': Christian and Jewish eudaimonism in The Merchant of Venice / Sara Coodin Coodin, Sara 65

4 Robert Burton, perfect happiness and the visw dei / Mary Ann Lund Lund, Mary Ann 86

Part II Shakespeare and the language of emotion

5 Spleen in Shakespeare's comedies / Nigel Wood Wood, Nigel 109

6 'Rue e' en for ruth': Richard II and the imitation of sympathy / Richard Meek Meek, Richard 130

7 What's happiness in Hamlet? / Richard Chamberlain Chamberlain, Richard 153

Part III The politics and performance of emotion

8 'They that tread in a maze': movement as emotion in John Lvly / Andy Kesson Kesson, Andy 177

9 (S)wept from power: two versions of tyrannicide in Richard III / Ann Kaegi Kaegi, Ann 200

10 The affective scripts of early modern execution and murder / Frederika Bain Bain, Frederika 221

11 Discrepant emotional awareness in Shakespeare / R. S. White White, R. S., Ciara Rawnley Rawnley, Ciara 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719090783

0719090784

OCLC:

895729546