Pacifism and English Literature Minstrels of Peace

by White, R.S.

• ISBN13: 9780230553170
• ISBN10: 0230553176
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This timely book traces ideas of pacifism through English literature, particularly poetry. Four wide-ranging chapters, drawing on both religious and secular texts, provide intellectual and historical contexts. There follows a chronological analysis of poetry which rejects war and celebrates peace, from the middle ages to the present day. The book provides inspiration for all readers who seriously believe that conflict and war do not solve problems, and for students it provides a new kind of thematic history of literature.

Author Biography

R.S. WHITE is Professor of English at the University of Western Australia. His many publications include Natural Rights and the Birth of Romanticism in the 1790s (2005), Romeo & Juliet: Contemporary Critical Essays (2001), The Tempest: Contemporary Critical Essays (1999), Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature (1996), Reception and Response (1990) and many articles in related journals.

Table of Contents

Literature and Peace Studies	p. 1
From Ministrels to Martyrs	p. 13
Pacifist Perspectives	p. 21
Sacred Texts	p. 23
Secular Texts, Humanist Pacifism	p. 53
A Brief Pacifist History of English Literature	p. 83
Medieval Pacifism	p. 85
Renaissance Pacifism	p. 110
Pacifist Voices in Shakespeare	p. 139
Romantic Peace and War	p. 178
Pacifism in Prose and Films	p. 208
A Plague on Both Your Houses: War from the Air, the Civilian Dead and Modern Poetry	p. 232
Conclusion: 'Songs of Such Exquisite Sweetness'	p. 254
Acknowledgements	p. 259
Notes	p. 261
Bibliography	p. 279
Index	p. 292
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