
Reading Humility in Early Modern England
Jennifer Clement(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 12. December 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
166 pages
978-0-367-88094-1 (ISBN)
Description
While humility is not especially valued in modern Western culture, Jennifer Clement argues here, it is central to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century understandings of Christian faith and behavior, and is vital to early modern concepts of the self. As this study shows, early modern literary engagements with humility link it to self-knowledge through the practice of right reading, and make humility foundational to any proper understanding of human agency. Yet humility has received little critical interest, and has often been misunderstood as a false virtue that engenders only self-abjection. This study offers an overview of various ways in which humility is discussed, deployed, or resisted in early modern texts ranging from the explicitly religious and autobiographical prose of Katherine Parr and John Donne, to the more politically motivated prose of Queen Elizabeth I and the seventeenth-century reformer and radical Thomas Tryon. As part of the wider 'turn to religion' in early modern studies, this study seeks to complicate our understanding of a mainstream early modern virtue, and to problematize a mode of critical analysis that assumes agency is always defined by resistance.
Reviews / Votes
"Jennifer Clement has produced a compelling and well-written case for humility as an important and underappreciated virtue in early modern England." - Emily Cock, The University of Winchester, UKMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
266 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-88094-1 (9780367880941)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Jennifer Clement
Reading Humility in Early Modern England
E-Book
03/2016
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download

Jennifer Clement
Reading Humility in Early Modern England
E-Book
03/2016
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download

Jennifer Clement
Reading Humility in Early Modern England
Book
06/2015
1st Edition
Routledge
€205.90
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Jennifer Clement is a Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Content
A foundation of humility. Breeches parts: humility, pride, and social hierarchy. Acting (false) humility: Eastward Ho! and the problem of hypocrisy. Kissing the wound: humility and humiliation in John Donne's Sermons and Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. The Queens' humility: Katherine Parr, Elizabeth I, and humble agency. Thomas Tryon's reformed stewardship. Conclusion: humility and agency.