Poetry and Paternity in Renaissance England : Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne and Jonson

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--provided By Publisher. 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. Thomas Macfaul. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "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"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 List of abbreviations......Page 10 1 - Presumptive fathers......Page 12 2 - Uncertain paternity: the indifferent ideology of patriarchy......Page 47 3 - The childish love of Philip Sidney and Fulke Greville......Page 74 4 - Spenser's timely fruit: generation in The Faerie Queene......Page 106 5 - `We desire increase': Shakespear's non-dramatic poetry......Page 141 6 - John Donne's rhetorical contraception......Page 171 7 - `To propagate their names': Ben Jonson as poetic godfather......Page 199 Coda: Sons......Page 237 Notes......Page 245 Bibliography......Page 269 Index......Page 283 The Renaissance was a high-point of English love poetry. This book considers the various anxieties about sex and fatherhood that informed and shaped the major poems of the time, providing social context for the works of such important and popular writers as Shakespeare, Donne and Spenser. MacFaul explores the notion of paternity in early modern poetry, providing close readings of the major works of the time.--Résumé de l'éditeur