Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. ix, 206 pages; 24 cm

Summary

1. "Garrett Sullivan explores the changing impact of Aristotelian conceptions of vitality and humanness on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature before and after the rise of Descartes. In the Renaissance, Aristotle's tripartite soul is usually considered in relation to concepts of psychology and physiology. However, Sullivan argues that its significance is much greater, constituting a theory of vitality that simultaneously distinguishes man from, and connects him to, other forms of life. He contends that, in works such as Sidney's Old Arcadia, Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Milton's Paradise Lost and Dryden's All for Love, the genres of epic and romance, whose operations are informed by Aristotle's theory, provide the raw materials for exploring different models of humanness; and that sleep is the vehicle for such exploration as it blurs distinctions among man, plant and animal"--

Subject

1. English literature > Early modern, 1500-1700 > History and criticism
2. Aristotle > Influence
3. Soul in literature
4. Philosophy in literature
5. Sleep in literature
6. Life in literature
7. Human beings in literature

Contents

1. Machine generated contents note: Introduction; Part I. Aristotelian Vitality Ascendant: 1. 'Both plant and beast together': temperance, vitality and the romance alternative in Spenser's Bower of Bliss; 2. Sleeping minds: romance, affect and environment in Sidney's The Old Arcadia; 3. Sleep, history and 'life indeed' in Shakespeare's 1 and 2 Henry IV and Henry V; Part II. Aristotelian Vitality Embattled: 4. 'From the root springs lighter the green stalk': vegetality and humanness in Milton's Paradise Lost; Part III. Aristotelian Vitality Undead: 5. 'Desperate sloth, miscalled philosophy': Descartes and the post-Aristotelian romance episode in Dryden's All for Love; Coda: beyond undeath.

Call number

1. JFE 12-7365

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Author

1. Sullivan, Garrett A., author.

Title

1. Sleep, romance and human embodiment : vitality from Spenser to Milton / Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr.

Imprint

1. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012, ©2012.

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

LCCN

1. 2012012600

ISBN

1. 9781107024410 (hardback)
2. 1107024412 (hardback)

Research call number

1. JFE 12-7365