The Power of the Passive Self in English Literature, 1640-1770

"Challenging recent work that contends that seventeenth-century English discourses privilege the notion of a self-enclosed, self-sufficient individual, The Power of the Passive Self in English Literature recovers a counter-tradition that imagines selves as more passively prompted than actively choosing. This tradition - which Scott Paul Gordon locates in seventeenth-century religious discourse, in early eighteenth-century moral philosophy, in mid eighteenth-century acting theory, and in the emergent novel - resists autonomy and defers agency from the individual to an external "prompter." Gordon argues that the trope of passivity aims to guarantee a disinterested self in a culture that was increasingly convinced that every deliberate action involves calculating one's own interest. Gordon traces the origins of such ideas from their roots in the nonconformist religious tradition to their flowering in one of the central texts of eighteenth-century literature, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa."--BOOK JACKET. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 12 i. DREAMS OF DISINTEREST......Page 15 ii. UNIVERSAL SELF-INTEREST......Page 25 iii. THE POWER OF THE PASSIVE SELF......Page 31 CHAPTER 1 “Acted by Another”: agency and action in early modern England......Page 35 i. CROMWELL AND ACTION......Page 37 ii. PASSIVITY AND ‘‘PREVENTING GRACE’’......Page 46 iii. AGENCY AND ACTION......Page 57 iv. THE POWER OF PASSIVITY......Page 62 CHAPTER 2 “The belief of the people”: Thomas Hobbes and the battle over the heroic......Page 68 i. HEROISM IN CAROLINE ENGLAND......Page 70 ii. THE ATTACK ON ROMANCE......Page 78 iii. DISINTERESTED SELVES......Page 89 CHAPTER 3 “For want of some heedfull Eye”: Mr. Spectator and the power of spectacle......Page 100 i. DISCIPLINARY TRADITIONS......Page 105 ii. THE CHARACTER OF MR. SPECTATOR......Page 111 iii. THE POWER OF THE SPECTACLE......Page 118 CHAPTER 4 “For its own sake”: virtue and agency in early eighteenth-century England......Page 133 i. REASON AND PRUDENTIALISM......Page 135 ii. THE MORAL SENSE......Page 145 iii. NATURE AND IMMEDIACY......Page 156 CHAPTER 5 “Not perform’d at all”: managing Garrick’s body in eighteenth-century England......Page 167 i. GARRICK AS ‘‘FATHER’’......Page 170 ii. ‘‘NATURAL’’ LIMITATION......Page 174 iii. THE PASSIVE ACTOR......Page 180 iv. MANAGING GARRICK......Page 186 CHAPTER 6 “I wrote my Heart”: Richardson’s Clarissa and the tactics of sentiment......Page 196 i. CLARISSA THE RHETORICIAN?......Page 199 ii. THE USE OF SENTIMENT......Page 206 iii. CLARISSA AND BELIEF......Page 215 Epilogue: “a sign of so noble a passion”: the politics of disinterested selves......Page 226 INTRODUCTION: ‘‘SPRING AND MOTIVE OF OUR ACTIONS’’: DISINTEREST AND SELF-INTEREST......Page 229 1. ‘‘ACTED BY ANOTHER’’: AGENCY AND ACTION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND......Page 232 2. ‘‘THE BELIEF OF THE PEOPLE’’: THOMAS HOBBES AND THE BATTLE OVER THE HEROIC......Page 238 3. ‘‘FOR WANT OF SOME HEEDFULL EYE’’: MR. SPECTATOR AND THE POWER OF SPECTACLE......Page 243 4. ‘‘FOR ITS OWN SAKE’’: VIRTUE AND AGENCY IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND......Page 248 5. ‘‘NOT PERFORM’D AT ALL’’: MANAGING GARRICK’S BODY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND......Page 253 6. ‘‘I WROTE MY HEART’’: RICHARDSON’S CLARISSA AND THE TACTICS OF SENTIMENT......Page 257 EPILOGUE: ‘A SIGN OF SO NOBLE A PASSION’: THE POLITICS OF DISINTERESTED SELVES......Page 262 Bibliography......Page 263 Index......Page 287

Challenging recent work contending that seventeenth-century English discourses privilege the notion of a self-enclosed, self-sufficient individual, this study recovers a counter-tradition that imagines selves as more passively prompted than actively choosing. Gordon traces the origins of such ideas of passivity from their roots in the non-conformist religious tradition to their flowering in one of the central texts of eighteenth-century literature, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa.

Discussions of agency and autonomy, terms too infrequently distinguished, often share a common assumption: to be the agent of another, rather than a self-determining subject, is an undesirable, anxiety-ridden, and disempowered position. Scott Paul Gordon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 249-272) And Index.