English Renaissance Literature and Contemporary Theory

English Renaissance Literature and Contemporary Theory

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English Renaissance Literature and Contemporary Theory: Sublime Objects of Theology Paul Cefalu

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE LITERATURE AND CONTEMPO- RARY THEORY: SUBLIME OBJECTS OF THEOLOGY Copyright Paul Cefalu, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN<~?~TP: insert TM symbol> 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53730-3 ISBN 978-0-230-60749-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230607491 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data English Renaissance literature and contemporary theory: sublime objects of theology / Paul Cefalu p.cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4039-7669-4 (alk. paper) 1. English literature Early modern, 1500 1700 History and criticism. 2. Christian poetry, English Early modern, 1500 1700 History and criticism. 3. Theology in literature. 4. Ontology in literature. 5. Poets, English Early modern, 1500 1700 Philosophy. 6. Donne, John, 1572 1631 Religion. 7. Crashaw, Richard, 1613 1649 Religion. 8. Milton, John, 1608 1674 Religion 9. Traheme, Thomas, d. 1674 Religion. 10. Philosophy, Modern. I. Title PR438.R45C45 2007 821 3 dc22 2007060510 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: July 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Anna

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C ONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 States of Exception and Pauline Love in John Donne s Sermons and Poetry 33 Chapter 2 Baroque Monads and Allegorical Immanence: A Reassessment of Richard Crashaw s Imagery 69 Chapter 3 Tarrying with Chaos: John Milton s Paradise Lost and the Ethics of Psychoanalysis 101 Chapter 4 Infinite Love and the Limits of Neo-Scholasticism in the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Traherne 141 Selected Bibliography 201 Index 207

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sections of Chapter 3 were previously published as Thomistic Metaphysics and Ethics in the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Traherne, Literature and Theology 2002 16 (3): 248 69. I thank Oxford University Press for permission to reprint such material here. I also thank the Provost and Board of Trustees at Lafayette College for providing a sabbatical from teaching during the academic year 2006 2007, which allowed me to make final changes on the manuscript. For their helpful suggestions on earlier drafts of sections of this work, I would like to thank Julia Reinhard Lupton, Catherine Martin, and Marshall Grossman. For continuing support of my research, I also thank the chair of Lafayette s English Department, Suzanne Westfall, as well as English Department colleagues, including Lee Upton, Lynn Van Dyke, and James Woolley. Thanks especially to Farideh Koohi-Kamali for supporting this project from its inception and to the entire Palgrave team, particularly Julia Cohen, Elizabeth Sabo, and Rosemi Mederos at Scribe, for their expert assistance in shepherding the book to publication. I extend a very warm thank you to David Schragg, my friend, neighbor, and frequent interlocutor on cultural studies and contemporary theory. This book is dedicated to Anna Siomopoulos, without whose support and partnership it would not have been possible.