The imperfect friend: emotion and rhetoric in Sidney, Milton, and their contexts

__The Imperfect Friend__ sheds new light on how the writings of Sidney, Milton, and others grappled with problems of personal identity. From their innovations, the study concludes, friendship emerges as a favourite site of counseling the afflicted and perturbed. Many Writers In Early Modern England Drew On The Rhetorical Tradition To Explore Affective Experience. In The Imperfect Friend, Wendy Olmsted Examines A Broad Range Of Renaissance And Reformation Sources, All Of Which Aim To Cultivate 'emotional Intelligence' Through Rhetorical Means, With A View To Understanding How Emotion Functions In These Texts. In The Works Of Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), John Milton (1608-1674), And Many Others, Characters Are Depicted Conversing With One Another About Their Emotions. While Counsellors Appeal To Objective Reasons For Feeling A Certain Way, Their Efforts To Shape Emotion Often Encounter Resistance. This Volume Demonstrates How, In Renaissance And Reformation Literature, Failures Of Persuasion Arise From Conflicts Among Competing Rhetorical Frameworks Among Characters. Multiple Frameworks, Olmsted Argues, Produce Tensions And, Consequently, An Interiorized Conflicted Self. By Situating Emotional Discourse Within Distinct Historical And Socio-cultural Perspectives, The Imperfect Friend Sheds New Light On How The Writings Of Sidney, Milton, And Others Grapple With Problems Of Personal Identity. From Their Innovations, The Study Concludes, Friendship Emerges As A Favourite Site Of Counselling The Afflicted And Perturbed.--jacket. Counselling The Unstable Self: Conflicting Emotional Frameworks, Persuasion, And Inwardness -- Unyielding Judge Of Gentle Physician? The Friend As Counsellor In Guazzo's The Civile Conversation And Sidney's Old Arcadia -- Poetry As Orator And Physician In Sidney's Defence -- The Politics Of Emotion In Hospitality, Rivalry, And Erotic Love: Sidney's New Arcadia -- Anger As An Instrument Of Justice: The Vehement Versus The Mild Style Of Milton's Early Prose -- Emotion As Defined By The Discourse Of Hounor: Spiritual Warfare And Rhetorical Agon In Paradise Lost -- Seventeenth-century Protestant Rhetoric: Cause And Cure Of Fallen Emotion -- Marriage As A Site Of Counsel In Marriage Handbooks, Milton's Divorce Pamphlets, And Paradise Lost. Wendy Olmsted. Texts Examined Include Those Of Sidney, Milton, And Many Others. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [217]-271) And Index.

Many writers in early modern England drew on the rhetorical tradition to explore affective experience. In The Imperfect Friend, Wendy Olmsted examines a broad range of Renaissance and Reformation sources, all of which aim to cultivate 'emotional intelligence' through rhetorical means, with a view to understanding how emotion functions in these texts. In the works of Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), John Milton (1608-1674), and many others, characters are depicted conversing with one another about their emotions. While counselors appeal to objective reasons for feeling a certain way, their efforts to shape emotion often encounter resistance.

This volume demonstrates how, in Renaissance and Reformation literature, failures of persuasion arise from conflicts among competing rhetorical frameworks among characters. Multiple frameworks, Olmsted argues, produce tensions and, consequently, an interiorized conflicted self. By situating emotional discourse within distinct historical and socio-cultural perspectives, The Imperfect Friend sheds new light on how the writings of Sidney, Milton, and others grappled with problems of personal identity. From their innovations, the study concludes, friendship emerges as a favourite site of counseling the afflicted and perturbed.

Many writers in early modern England drew on the rhetorical tradition to explore affective experience. In The Imperfect Friend, Wendy Olmsted examines a broad range of Renaissance and Reformation sources, all of which aim to cultivate 'emotional intelligence' through rhetorical means, with a view to understanding how emotion functions in these texts. In the works of Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), John Milton (1608-1674), and many others, characters are depicted conversing with one another about their emotions. While counselors appeal to objective reasons for feeling a certain way, their efforts to shape emotion often encounter resistance. This volume demonstrates how, in Renaissance and Reformation literature, failures of persuasion arise from conflicts among competing rhetorical frameworks among characters. Multiple frameworks, Olmsted argues, produce tensions and, consequently, an interiorized conflicted self. By situating emotional discourse within distinct historical and socio-cultural perspectives, The Imperfect Friend sheds new light on how the writings of Sidney, Milton, and others grappled with problems of personal identity. From their innovations, the study concludes, friendship emerges as a favourite site of counseling the afflicted and perturbed Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Notes on Transcriptions 11 1. Counselling the Unstable Self: Conflicting Emotional Frameworks, Persuasion, and Inwardness 13 2. Unyielding Judge or Gentle Physician? The Friend as Counsellor in Guazzo’s The Civile Conversation and Sidney’s Old Arcadia 32 3. Poetry as Orator and Physician in Sidney’s Defence 66 4. The Politics of Emotion in Hospitality, Rivalry, and Erotic Love: Sidney’s New Arcadia 88 5. Anger as an Instrument of Justice: The Vehement versus the Mild Style in Milton’s Early Prose 118 6. Emotion as Defined by the Discourse of Honour: Spiritual Warfare and Rhetorical Agon in Paradise Lost 140 7. Seventeenth-Century Protestant Rhetoric: Cause and Cure of Fallen Emotion 158 8. Marriage as a Site of Counsel in Marriage Handbooks, Milton’s Divorce Pamphlets, and Paradise Lost 187 Conclusion 221 Notes 229 Index 285