Selfhood and the Seventeenth Century

“For the historian of philosophy or political thought … [m]ethodologically, there is a reluctance to employ the idea of the self as a tool to unlock the structure either of texts, or of social practices, which do not in themselves use such a concept. To examine how languages and discourses themselves were employed and adapted, to make sense of and influence the world, should be the goal of the intellectual historian.”

Those of you who had a good go at me about the self in seventeenth-century literature last week might want to take a look at this:

Geoff Baldwin, ‘Individual and Self in the Late Renaissance’, The Historical Journal 44.2 (2001), pp. 341-364
Online access available here

It provides a good over-view of the different ways scholars in history, political theory and literary studies have explored the idea of the ‘individual’ and the ‘self’ during the Renaissance.

Those of you who weren’t present to see me getting slowly but surely backed into a corner might want to look at this anyway and we can talk about it next week…

Alice Eardley : 10 Nov 2009 17:30 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Next Week: Herbert

Preparation for After Reading Week:

As usual, the reading in bold type is a compulsory part of the course and everything else is optional but highly recommended.

Read the selection of Herbert’s poems in the Norton Anthology.

Points to think about:

- What impressions of God emerge from Herbert’s text? With what roles/figures is he identified? How does Herbert address him?
- What idea do you get of Herbert’s ideas about poetry and literary creativity? Is this reflected in the style and content of his own poems?
- Which aspects of the text would you identify as Calvinist?
- Are there aspects of the text which are difficult to reconcile with a Calvinist perspective?

Optional secondary reading:

- Elizabeth’s essay on Herbert that can be found on the course website.
- It might also be useful to think about the religious and political climate of 1630s England. Useful chapters to look at are: Chapter 5 of Kishlansky ‘The Reign of Charles I, 1629-1637’ or David L. Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, Chapter 4 ‘The Personal Rule of Charles I’.

Unassessed essays are due to be submitted in the first seminar after Reading Week.
Information about these, including titles, can be found on the course website. if you have any questions at all, feel free to get in touch.

Alice Eardley : 06 Nov 2009 11:01 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Ionic Pilasters: what?!

In the Masque of Beauty Jonson describes the ‘the Throne of Beauty, erected, divided into eight squares, and distinguished by so many Ionic pilasters’.

So what are they? Extensive research on Google Images reveals that they look something like this:

It’s apparently the scroll at the top of the pillar that makes them ionic.

Alice Eardley : 28 Oct 2009 21:35 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Next Week: Court Masques

Preparation for Next Week:

The reading in bold type is a compulsory part of the course and everything else is optional but highly recommended.

Please read the Ben Jonson’s ‘Masque of Blackness’ in the Norton Anthology and the ‘Masque of Beauty’ (PDF on course website: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/undergraduate/current/modules/fulllist/second/en228/handouts/). The introduction to ‘Blackness’ (in the anthology) is very useful so make sure you read that as well.

Points to think about:

- Masques were primarily intended to reflect and praise the virtues of the monarchy. Can you detect any ways in which Jonson subverts this?
- How do the two masques relate to one another? What themes are carried over? How has the passage of time effected the way certain ideas/images are used?
- Think about the significance of the court setting for the performance of the masques. In what ways does this influence the content or style of each text?
- Queen Anne is an important figure for, and in, these masques. Think about the ways in which her influence is manifested in the different texts. If you want to know more about her, the Dictionary of National Biography is a good place to start.

Useful secondary reading:

On the masque genre:
- Stephen Orgel, The Illusion of Power: Political Theater in the English Renaissance (1975).
- Martin Butler, ‘Courtly Negotiations’, in David Bevington and Peter Holbrook ed., The Politics of the Stuart Court Masque (1999).

For illustrations of the sets and costumes used in masques see: http://www.shafe.co.uk/art/early_stuart_10_-_the_caroline_court.asp

Alice Eardley : 23 Oct 2009 10:50 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Something to Look Forward to…

Radio 4 programme about the influence of c17th composer Henry Purcell on Pete Townsend from The Who. Now that has to be worth listening to:

http://feeds.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nf3kr

Alice Eardley : 21 Oct 2009 09:30 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

More About Puritanism

Another good source of information about puritanism is: John Coffey and Paul C. H. Lim ed., The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism (Cambridge: CUP, 2008). It’s available online via the Warwick University library catalogue.

Alice Eardley : 18 Oct 2009 10:50 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Week Three: John Donne

Preparation for the Seminar:

Points in bold type are a compulsory part of the course. Everything else is intended to be an optional guide to help with preparation.

- Read the selection of ‘Holy Sonnets’ in the Norton Anthology together with ‘Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward’, ‘A Hymn to Christ, at the Authors Last Going into Germany’, ‘Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness’ and ‘A Hymn to God the Father’ (pp. 1268-76).

Points to think about:
- In what different ways does Donne represent the relationship between the soul and the body.
- What other common themes emerge from these poems? Are there any contradictions?
- A couple of the poems refer to ‘grace’. What does Donne mean by this?
- Think about the tone of the poems. How is Donne addressing God? What impression of God does this give you?
- Is Donne talking about himself in these poems? Or not? What is the evidence?

Useful Secondary Reading:

- James Doelman, ‘The Accession of King James I and English Religious Poetry’.
http://www.geocities.com/queenswoman/jamesdoelman.html

The article is very dense and provides a lot of information. Here is a list of some things you might want to pay attention to:
- The relationship between poetry and politics (ie. the court).
- The significance of dedications/prefaces/commendatory verse.
- Note how the texts are tied into very specific dates.

Alice Eardley : 18 Oct 2009 10:36 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Week Two: Ben Jonson, The Alchemist

One of the three “most perfect plots ever planned”, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Preparation for the Seminar:

Points in bold type are a compulsory part of the course. Everything else is intended to be an optional guide to help with preparation.

For next week, please read Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. The campus bookshop has multiple copies of the New Mermaids edition ed. Elizabeth Cook (Methuen, 2004).

Points to think about:
- Where and when is the play set? Why is this significant?
- Language: how is it being used in the play? What different kinds of language are being used? What does the play as a whole have to say about language?
- Alchemy: what is alchemy? What is said about alchemy in the play? How do alchemical ideas/themes emerge in the structure/themes of the play?
- If you can, try and imagine what this play would look like if performed on stage? How might the exits and entrances work? What effect would this have on your understanding of the play?
- Is the end of the play surprising? If so, why? If not, why?

Useful Resources:
For a more detailed description of Anabaptists than that included in the New Mermaids edition, see:
http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/anabaptists.html
(Scroll down for a section on Anabaptists in England)

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01445b.htm

A slightly bizarre but very interesting site on alchemy can be found here:
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/

Alice Eardley : 07 Oct 2009 10:58 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Welcome Back!

EN228: Seventeenth Century Literature and Culture: Week One

Alice Eardley: a.eardley@warwick.ac.uk
Office hour: Thursday 4.00-5.00 H528

Course website: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/undergraduate/current/modules/fulllist/second/en228/

Aims of the Course
1. To end up with a real understanding of why people wrote in the seventeenth century, and who read their work
2. To acquire knowledge of seventeenth-century writing, both canonical and non-canonical
3. To develop skill in reading the particular genres and codes of seventeenth-century writing
4. To enjoy reading seventeenth-century writing no-one else has read.

Assessment
Two essays of 2,500 words and a two-hour examination. There is also a required unassessed essay due in Term 1, week 7.

Preparation for seminars
Every Thursday evening/Friday morning I will send out an email detailing the work that needs to be done for the following week’s seminar. This will include information about where to find the text and a series of issues/questions for you to think about while you’re reading.

Presentations
Starting after Reading Week I will be asking each of you to give a presentation on a chapter or article of criticism related to that week’s reading. The week before it is your turn to present, I will send you an email with a list of articles from which you will be asked to select one. Presentations need not be more than five or ten minutes long.

NB: If you read one critical study this year, make it: Jason Scott-Warren, Early Modern English Literature (Cambridge: Polity, 2005)

Any questions: EMAIL ME!

Alice Eardley : 07 Oct 2009 10:25 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Literary Term of the Day

Priamel

“Originally: a type of short poem cultivated in Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in a witty or ingenious turn of thought. Later applied to similar literary forms; spec. (in ancient Greek poetry) a device in which a number of items or options, culminating in a preferred one, are listed for comparison” (OED)

Eg:

Sappho, ‘On what is best’

Some celebrate the beauty
of knights, or infantry,
or billowing flotillas
at battle on the sea.
Warfare has its glory,
but I place far above
these military splendors
the one thing that you love.

For proof of this contention
examine history:
we all remember Helen,
who left her family,
her child, and royal husband,
to take a stranger’s hand:
her beauty had no equal,
but bowed to love’s command.

As love then is the power
that none can disobey,
so too my thoughts must follow
my darling far away:
the sparkle of her laughter
would give me greater joy
than all the bronze-clad heroes

- translated from the Greek by Jon Corelis

Alice Eardley : 30 Sep 2009 11:07 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem