Guilty Creatures : Renaissance Poetry and the Ethics of Authorship

Download or read book Guilty Creatures : Renaissance Poetry and the Ethics of Authorship written by Dennis Kezar Assistant Professor of English Vanderbilt University and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2001-04-05 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this innovative and learned study, Dennis Kezar examines how Renaissance poets conceive the theme of killing as a specifically representational and interpretive form of violence. Closely reading both major poets and lesser known authors of the early modern period, Kezar explores the ethical self-consciousness and accountability that attend literary killing, paying particular attention to the ways in which this reflection indicates the poet's understanding of his audience. Among the many poems through which Kezar explores the concept of authorial guilt elicited by violent representation are Skelton's Phyllyp Sparowe, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the multi-authored Witch of Edmonton, and Milton's Samson Agonistes.