Early modern asceticism : literature, religion, and austerity in the English Renaissance / Patrick J. McGrath.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGrath, Patrick J., 1984- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and literature--England--History--16th century.

Religion and literature.

England.

History.

Religion and literature--England--History--17th century.

English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism.

English literature.

Asceticism in literature.

Spirituality in literature.

English literature--Early modern.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

236 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2020]

Summary:

"In discussions of the works of Donne, Milton, Marvell, and Bunyan, Early Modern Asceticism shows how conflicting approaches to asceticism animate depictions of sexuality, subjectivity, and embodiment in early modern literature and religion. The book challenges the perception that the Renaissance marks a decisive shift in attitudes towards the body, sex, and the self. In early modernity, self-respect was a Satanic impulse that had to be annihilated--the body was not celebrated, but beaten into subjection--and, feeling circumscribed by sexual desire, ascetics found relief in pain, solitude, and deformity. On the basis of this austerity, Early Modern Asceticism questions the ease with which scholarship often elides the early and the modern."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 John Donne and Asceticism p. 26

2 A Mask, Asceticism, and Caroline Culture p. 49

3 The Virgin's Body and the Natural World in Lycidas p. 73

4 Upon Appleton House and the Impossibility of Asceticism p. 98

5 Self-Denial, Monasticism, and The Pilgrim's Progress p. 122.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1487505329

9781487505325

OCLC:

1089984339