Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World by Russ Leo, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Russ Leo ISBN: 9780192571687
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: January 24, 2019
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Russ Leo
ISBN: 9780192571687
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: January 24, 2019
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World examines how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century poets, theologians, and humanist critics turned to tragedy to understand providence and agencies human and divine in the crucible of the Reformation. Rejecting familiar assumptions about tragedy, vital figures like Philipp Melanchthon, David Pareus, Lodovico Castelvetro, John Rainolds, and Daniel Heinsius developed distinctly philosophical ideas of tragedy, irreducible to drama or performance, inextricable from rhetoric, dialectic, and metaphysics. In its proximity to philosophy, tragedy afforded careful readers crucial insight into causality, probability, necessity, and the terms of human affect and action. With these resources at hand, poets and critics produced a series of daring and influential theses on tragedy between the 1550s and the 1630s, all directly related to pressing Reformation debates concerning providence, predestination, faith, and devotional practice. Under the influence of Aristotle's Poetics, they presented tragedy as an exacting forensic tool, enabling attentive readers to apprehend totality. And while some poets employed tragedy to render sacred history palpable with new energy and urgency, others marshalled a precise philosophical notion of tragedy directly against spectacle and stage-playing, endorsing anti-theatrical theses on tragedy inflected by the antique Poetics. In other words, this work illustrates the degree to which some of the influential poets and critics in the period, emphasized philosophical precision at the expense of—even to the exclusion of—dramatic presentation. In turn, the work also explores the impact of scholarly debates on more familiar works of vernacular tragedy, illustrating how William Shakespeare's Hamlet and John Milton's 1671 poems take shape in conversation with philosophical and philological investigations of tragedy. Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World demonstrates how Reformation took shape in poetic as well as theological and political terms while simultaneously exposing the importance of tragedy to the history of philosophy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World examines how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century poets, theologians, and humanist critics turned to tragedy to understand providence and agencies human and divine in the crucible of the Reformation. Rejecting familiar assumptions about tragedy, vital figures like Philipp Melanchthon, David Pareus, Lodovico Castelvetro, John Rainolds, and Daniel Heinsius developed distinctly philosophical ideas of tragedy, irreducible to drama or performance, inextricable from rhetoric, dialectic, and metaphysics. In its proximity to philosophy, tragedy afforded careful readers crucial insight into causality, probability, necessity, and the terms of human affect and action. With these resources at hand, poets and critics produced a series of daring and influential theses on tragedy between the 1550s and the 1630s, all directly related to pressing Reformation debates concerning providence, predestination, faith, and devotional practice. Under the influence of Aristotle's Poetics, they presented tragedy as an exacting forensic tool, enabling attentive readers to apprehend totality. And while some poets employed tragedy to render sacred history palpable with new energy and urgency, others marshalled a precise philosophical notion of tragedy directly against spectacle and stage-playing, endorsing anti-theatrical theses on tragedy inflected by the antique Poetics. In other words, this work illustrates the degree to which some of the influential poets and critics in the period, emphasized philosophical precision at the expense of—even to the exclusion of—dramatic presentation. In turn, the work also explores the impact of scholarly debates on more familiar works of vernacular tragedy, illustrating how William Shakespeare's Hamlet and John Milton's 1671 poems take shape in conversation with philosophical and philological investigations of tragedy. Tragedy as Philosophy in the Reformation World demonstrates how Reformation took shape in poetic as well as theological and political terms while simultaneously exposing the importance of tragedy to the history of philosophy.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book The Tenth Muse by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Blackstone's Handbook for Policing Students 2015 by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Deconstructing the OSCE by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Oxford Handbook of Sport and Exercise Medicine by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Phenomenal Presence by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Foxe's Book of Martyrs by Russ Leo
Cover of the book The Age of Culpability by Russ Leo
Cover of the book The Prisoner Society by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Rheumatology and the Kidney by Russ Leo
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of British Poetry, 1660-1800 by Russ Leo
Cover of the book The Anglo-Saxon Age: A Very Short Introduction by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Medieval Philosophy by Russ Leo
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry by Russ Leo
Cover of the book Popular Sovereignty in Early Modern Constitutional Thought by Russ Leo
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy