Environment and Embodiment in Early Modern England (Early Modern Literature in History)

Focusing on selfhood, embodiment and environment in the early modern world, this volume approaches a range of literary and cultural texts from an ecological perspective-one in which the microcosmic 'body' is seen as continuous with and permeated by the macrocosmic 'environment'. Eros And Poetry At The Court Of Mary Queen Of Scots And James Vi Examines The Erotics Of Literary Desire At The Stewart Court In Scotland During The Reigns Of Mary Queen Of Scots And James Vi. Encompassing The Period From The Early 1560s To The Late 1590s, This Is The First Study To Link Together Scottish Marian And Jacobean Court Literature, Presenting A Relatively Unknown Body Of Writing, Newly Theorized And Contextualized. It Argues That In This Period Erotic Poetry Can Only Be Considered In Relation To The Figure Of The Monarch, And That The Formation Of Elite Lyric Culture Takes Place Under The Shaping Influence Of Desire For, And Against, The Sovereign, And Her Or His 'passional' And Symbolic Powers.--jacket. Introduction: Amorous Histories -- From Marian To Jacobean Eros -- Pt. 1. The Marian Period. 1. Feminine Eros: Mary Queen Of Scots And The Emergence Of Desire. 2. Demonic And Angelic Women: The Erotics Of Renunciation And Mariology In The Bannatyne Manuscript -- Pt. 2. The Jacobean Period. 3. Fables Of Eros: James Vi And The Revelation Of Desire. 4. Devotional Artefacts: John Stewart And The Eroticisation Of The Courtly. 5. Love's Altar: Alexander Montgomerie And The Erotics Of Representation. 6. Heretical Love-words: The Poetry Of William Fowler. Conclusion: Love's End. Sarah M. Dunnigan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "A Roman triumph was the procession of a victorious general through the city. The festivity combined religious thanksgiving, political legitimation, and carnival release. Early modern England, from the Armada period of the 1580s to the Cromwellian Protectorate in the 1650s, revived and appropriated the Roman model in a wide variety of forms. The result is a characteristic product of early modern culture." "English use of the triumph included ceremonies, stage performances, and poetic or pictorial representations. This book gives particular attention to the researches of humanist antiquarians, the vigorous tradition of pamphlet triumphs, and the literary or dramatic versions produced by Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Marvell and Milton, as well as by non-canonical writers. It discloses the ways in which all these texts are implicated in contemporary political conflicts and discourses. The book also discusses adaptations such as the subversive triumph of love, the paradoxical triumph of peace, and Christian triumphs of humility and patience."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: Inhabiting the Body, Inhabiting the World....Pages 1-13 Spongy Brains and Material Memories....Pages 14-34 Marvell’s Amazing Garden....Pages 35-54 The Souls of Animals: John Donne’s Metempsychosis and Early Modern Natural History....Pages 55-70 Affective Technologies: Toward an Emotional Logic of the Elizabethan Stage....Pages 71-89 Inconstancy: Changeable Affections in Stuart Dramas of Contract....Pages 90-102 The East in British-American Writing: English Identity, John Smith’s True Travels, and Severed Heads....Pages 103-117 “My Liquid Journey”: The Frontispiece to Coryat’s Crudities (1611)....Pages 118-136 Becoming the Landscape: The Ecology of the Passions in the Legend of Temperance....Pages 137-152 “The Material Point of Poesy”: Reading, Writing and Sensation in Puttenham’s The Arte of English Poesie....Pages 153-170 Spelling the Body....Pages 171-186 Humanist Habitats; Or, “Eating Well” with Thomas More’s Utopia....Pages 187-209 Back Matter....Pages 210-213 "The advent of relatively cheap printed editions of verse in the mid-sixteenth century produced an explosion of verse, much of which represented the first-person speaker as a version of the author. This book examines the way in which writers, often seeking advancement in their careers, harnessed the powers of verse and print for self-promotional purposes. Close attention to the self-constructions of these writers reveals conflicts and contradictions in available models of the self, as well as doubts about the powers of verse to express the inner self. Texts studied include: an extraordinary manuscript autobiography by Thomas Whythorne; printed verse by a woman, Isabella Whitney; an erotic romance by George Gascoigne, hailed as the first 'novel' in English; little-known but memorable narratives of travel to Russia and Africa, and of the experience of war; and more canonical works by Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare."--Jacket Spongy brains and material memories / John Sutton Marvell's amazing garden / Mary Thomas Crane The souls of animals: John Donne's Metempsychosis and early modern natural history / Elizabeth D. Harvey Affective technologies: toward an emotional logic of the Elizabethan stage / Steven Mullaney Inconstancy: changeable affections in Stuart dramas of contract / Katherine Rowe The East in British-American writing: English identity, John Smith's True travels, and severed heads / Jim Egan "My liquid journey": the frontispiece to Coryat's Crudities (1611) / David J. Baker Becoming the landscape: the ecology of the passions in the legend of temperance / Gail Kern Paster "The material point of poesy": reading, writing and sensation in Puttenham's The arte of English poesie / Katherine A. Craik Spelling the body / Tanya Pollard Humanist habitats; or, "Eating well" with Thomas More's Utopia / Julian Yates Annotation How did early modern writers conceive of the relationship between their bodies, their minds and the environment? This volume examines the surprisingly dynamic and varied mediations early modern writers posited between the microcosm and macrocosm, ranging from discourses on the ecology of passions to striking examples of distributed cognition. Environment and Embodiment in Early Modern England presents eleven essays by prominent scholars that invite us to rethink not only what constitutes an environment but also where the environment ends and selfhood begins. Contributors present new readings of John Donne, Andrew Marvell, George Puttenham, Sir Thomas More, Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare, as well as offering fresh insights into the cultural work of the theatre, romance, travel, poetry and magic Eros and Poetry examines the erotics of literary desire at the Stewart court in Scotland during the reigns of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI. Encompassing the period from the early 1560s to the late 1590s, this is the first study to link together Scottish Marian and Jacobean court literatures, presenting a relatively unknown body of writing, newly theorized and contextualized. It argues that in this period erotic poetry can only be considered in relation to the figure of the monarch, and that the formation of elite lyric culture takes place under the shaping influence of desire for, and against, the sovereign, and her or his 'passional' and symbolic powers Eleven essays invite us to rethink not only what constitutes an environment but also where the environment ends and selfhood begins. The essays examine the dynamic and varied mediations early modern writers posited between microcosm and macrocosm, ranging from discourses on the ecology of passions to striking examples of distributed cognition.