Writing Combat and the Self in Early Modern English Literature: The Pen and the Sword (Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500–1700)

By examining these competing depictions of combat that coexist in sixteenth-century texts ranging from Arthurian romance to early modern medical texts, this study reveals both the importance of combat in understanding the humanist subject and the contours of the previously neglected pre-modern subject. By examining competing depictions of combat in sixteenth-century texts such asArthurian romanceand early modern medical texts, this original study reveals both the importance of combat in understanding the humanist subject and the contours of the previously neglected pre-modern subject Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction: The Pen and the Sword....Pages 1-22 Heroic Anatomies....Pages 23-75 “A Sharper Reproof to These Degenerate Effeminate Days”....Pages 77-113 “Lo, Ye All Englishmen”....Pages 115-146 Astraea Returned to Heaven....Pages 147-184 Conclusion: “Hunt Honour, and not Nations with Your Swords”....Pages 185-193 Back Matter....Pages 195-254