Writing the Flesh

by Powers-Beck, Jeffrey P.

• ISBN13: 9780820702933
• ISBN10: 0820702935
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Duquesne Univ Pr

Summary

What the Brontës were to the nineteenth century, the family of poet George Herbert was to the seventeenth century -- an extraordinary domestic group that made familial struggles into the subjects of their art. Derived from an exhaustive reading of Herbert family manuscripts, this study interprets a series of texts that have never been studied together before. A keen synthesis of social history and literary criticism, it presents both a historical examination of the structure of an early modern family and a new "domestic" understanding of George Herbert's poetry.

Author Biography

Jeffrey Powers-Beck is associate professor of English at East Tennessee State University. With the assistance of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the ETSU Research Development Committee, he has performed extensive archival research on Herbert family manuscripts in England and Wales. His articles have appeared in English Literary Renaissance, South Atlantic Review, English Language Notes and other journals.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
List of Abbreviations	xv
Writing the Flesh: The Herbert Family Dialogue	1	(32)
Joining Contrary Realms: The ``Generous Ambiguity'' of Magdalen Herbert	33	(26)
``The Church-porch'' and George Herbert's Family Advice	59	(38)
``Lovely enchanting language'': Sir Henry Herbert and the Language of Courtship	97	(22)
Comparing Fruits: Edward Herbert, Sonship, Sacrifice, and Time	119	(46)
Tempests in the Blood: Thomas Herbert's ``The Storme from Plimmouth''	165	(24)
Religion on Tiptoe: Sir John Danvers, the Virginia Company, and ``The Church Militant''	189	(34)
Appendix A: Magdalen Herbert's Table Guests	223	(5)
Appendix B: Henry Herbert's Devotional Writings	228	(5)
Appendix C: Thomas Herbert's ``The Storme from Plimmouth''	233	(4)
Notes	237	(7)
Bibliography
Manuscripts	244	(2)
Printed Books and Articles	246	(25)
Index	271