The Elizabethan Mind : Searching for the Self in an Age of Uncertainty

What is the mind? How does it relate to the body and soul? These questions were as perplexing for the Elizabethans as they are for us today, although their answers were often startlingly different. Shakespeare and his contemporaries believed the mind was governed by the humours and passions, and that it was susceptible to the Devil's interference. This book explores the intricacies of Elizabethan ideas about the mind. This was a period of turbulence and transition, as persistent medieval theories competed with revived classical ideas and emerging scientific developments. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the book sheds new light on works by Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sidney, and Spenser, demonstrating how ideas about the mind shaped new literary and theatrical forms. Looking at their conflicted attitudes to imagination, dreams, and melancholy, the book examines how Elizabethans perceived the mind, soul, and self, and how their ideas compare with our own. The first comprehensive guide to Elizabethan ideas about the mind

What is the mind? How does it relate to the body and soul? These questions were as perplexing for the Elizabethans as they are for us today—although their answers were often startlingly different. Shakespeare and his contemporaries believed the mind was governed by the humours and passions, and was susceptible to the Devil’s interference.

In this insightful and wide-ranging account, Helen Hackett explores the intricacies of Elizabethan ideas about the mind. This was a period of turbulence and transition, as persistent medieval theories competed with revived classical ideas and emerging scientific developments. Drawing on a wealth of sources, Hackett sheds new light on works by Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sidney, and Spenser, demonstrating how ideas about the mind shaped new literary and theatrical forms. Looking at their conflicted attitudes to imagination, dreams, and melancholy, Hackett examines how Elizabethans perceived the mind, soul, and self, and how their ideas compare with our own. CONTENTS 5 ILLUSTRATIONS 7 Acknowledgements 10 A Note on the Text 13 Abbreviations 15 Introduction 17 PART I. Mind and Body 35 1. The Mind in the Body 35 2. Mind against Body 63 3. Knowing by Feeling 93 PART II. Marginalised Minds 127 4. In Other Voices 127 5. The Minds of Africans 160 PART III. Discipline Disturbances and Discipline 193 6. Stars and Demons 193 7. ‘Things Feigned in the Mind’ 234 8. Governing Self and State 274 PART IV. Writing the Mind 301 9. Writing Thought and Self 301 10. ‘That Within’ 330 Epilogue 358 ENDNOTES 367 BIBLIOGRAPHY 395 Index 422