Poetry and paternity in Renaissance England : Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne and Jonson / Tom MacFaul.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

MacFaul, Tom, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English poetry.

Paternity in literature.

Fathers in literature.

Patriarchy in literature.

Sex role--England--History--16th century.

Sex role.

Sex role--England--History--17th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 275 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Poetry & Paternity in Renaissance England

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Becoming a father was the main way that an individual in the English Renaissance could be treated as a full member of the community. Yet patriarchal identity was by no means as secure as is often assumed: when poets invoke the idea of paternity in love poetry and other forms, they are therefore invoking all the anxieties that a culture with contradictory notions of sexuality imposed. This study takes these anxieties seriously, arguing that writers such as Sidney and Spenser deployed images of childbirth to harmonize public and private spheres, to develop a full sense of selfhood in their verse, and even to come to new accommodations between the sexes. Shakespeare, Donne and Jonson, in turn, saw the appeal of the older poets' aims, but resisted their more radical implications. The result is a fiercely personal yet publicly-committed poetry that wouldn't be seen again until the time of the Romantics.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Presumptive fathers; 2. Uncertain paternity: the indifferent ideology of patriarchy; 3. The childish love of Philip Sidney and Fulke Greville; 4. Spenser's timely fruit: generation in The Faerie Queene; 5. 'We desire increase': Shakespeare's non-dramatic poetry; 6. John Donne's rhetorical contraception; 7. 'To propagate their names': Ben Jonson as poetic godfather; Coda: Sons.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-20406-2

0-511-84854-4

1-282-72354-5

9786612723544

0-511-78872-X

0-511-78685-9

0-511-78945-9

0-511-78571-2

0-511-76108-2

0-511-78799-5

OCLC:

651601573