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Author Flesch, William, 1956-

Title Generosity and the limits of authority : Shakespeare, Herbert, Milton / William Flesch.

Publication Info. Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1992.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xii, 277 pages)
text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. "When Griefs Make Thee Tame": Public and Private in Herbert -- CHAPTER TWO. Shakespeare's Gifts -- CHAPTER THREE. The Majesty of Darkness: Idol and lmage in Milton -- Index
Access Use copy Restrictions unspecified MiAaHDL
Summary Generosity is an ambiguous quality, William Flesch observes; while receiving gifts is pleasant, gift-giving both displays the wealth and strength of the giver and places the receiver under an obligation. In provocative new readings of Shakespeare, Herbert, and Milton, Flesch illuminates the personal authority that is bound inextricably with acts of generosity. Drawing on the work of such theorists as Mauss, Blanchot, Bourdieu, Wittgenstein, Bloom, Cavell, and Greenblatt, Flesch maintains that the literary power of Shakespeare, Herbert, and Milton is at its most intense when they are exploring the limits of generosity. He considers how in Herbert's Temple divine assurance of the possibility of redemption is put into question and how the poet approaches such a gift with the ambivalence of a beneficiary. In his readings of Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and the sonnets, Flesch examines the perspective of the benefactor - including Shakespeare himself - who confronts the decline of his capacity to give. Turning to Milton's Paradise Lost, Flesch identifies two opposing ways of understanding generosity - Satan's, on the one hand, and Adam and Eve's, on the other - and elaborates the different conceptions of poetry to which these understandings give rise. Scholars of Shakespeare and of Renaissance culture, Miltonists, literary theorists, and others interested in the relationship between philosophy and literature will want to read this insightful and challenging book.
Reproduction Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010. MiAaHDL
System Details Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
Processing Action digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve MiAaHDL
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Criticism and interpretation.
Herbert, George, 1593-1633 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Herbert, George, 1593-1633.
Milton, John, 1608-1674 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Milton, John, 1608-1674.
English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism.
Generosity in literature.
Generosity in literature.
Authority in literature.
Authority in literature.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
English literature -- Early modern.
Chronological Term 1500-1700
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Other Form: Print version: Generosity and the limits of authority Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1992. 0801426421 (alk. paper) (DLC) 92052753
ISBN 1501732870
9781501732867 (electronic book)
1501732862 (electronic book)
9781501732874 (electronic book)
0801426421 alkaline paper
9780801426421 (alkaline paper)