In Suffering in Paradise , Rebecca Totaro provides a unique and timely discussion of the bubonic plague as it shaped Literary Studies in England from 1500 through the first half of the eighteenth century. Within the experience and accounts of bubonic plague, men and women found their own understanding of the body, of the human relationship with nature, and of the degree to which they had faith in their nation and their God. An early modern writers reading of the plague shows us in detail what he or she believes to be the parameters within which life is lived. Focusing on the broadest of these parameters, Totaro examines hope and despair as displayed within a range of imaginary realms designed to include and control the bubonic plague. Each of the works in this studyThomas Mores Utopia , William Shakespeares Timon of Athens , Ben Jonsons The Alchemist , Francis Bacons The New Atlantis , Margaret Cavendishs The Blazing World , and John Miltons Paradise Lost provides literary and English answers that cohere in stunning form and resonate today.

Suffering In Paradise: The Bubonic Plague In English Literature From More To Milton (Medieval and Renaissance Literary Studies)

Totaro, Rebecca Carol Noel, 1968-

United States, United States of America

New Edition, 2005

Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-236) and index.

In This Book, Rebecca Totaro Provides A Unique And Timely Discussion Of The Bubonic Plague As It Shaped Literature In England From 1500 Through The First Half Of The Eighteenth Century.--jacket. Suffering In Plague-time -- The Best Practices For Change -- Thomas More's Pestilence In Parentheses -- Breath Infect Breath : Plague In Shakespeare's Timon Of Athens -- What A Great Loss In Hope? : Jonson's The Alchemist -- Plague In The Foundation : Building Toward The New Atlantis -- Fly From That Pestilent Destruction : Margaret Cavendish's Prescriptions -- Fables And Fancies : The Style Of Hope In Bacon And Cavendish -- The Rectification Of Air And The Pursuit Of Paradise. Rebecca Totaro. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 219-236) And Index.

xiv, 242 p. : 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-236) and index
Suffering in plague-time -- The best practices for change -- Thomas More's pestilence in parentheses -- Breath infect breath : plague in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens -- What a great loss in hope? : Jonson's the Alchemist -- Plague in the foundation : building toward the New Atlantis -- Fly from that pestilent destruction : Margaret Cavendish's prescriptions -- Fables and fancies : the style of hope in Bacon and Cavendish -- The rectification of air and the pursuit of paradise

2024-07-01