Literary Criticism (1400-1800)

La Rochefoucauld | Copyright Page

ISSN 0740-2880

Volume 108

Thomas J. Schoenberg

Project Editor

Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Vol. 108
Project Editor

Thomas J. Schoenberg

Editorial

Jessica Bomarito, Kathy D. Darrow, Jeffrey W. Hunter, Jelena O. Krstovi´c, Michelle Lee, Ellen McGeagh, Linda Pavlovski, Joseph Palmisano, Lawrence J. Trudeau, Russel Whitaker

Data Capture

Francis Monroe, Gwen Tucker

© 2005 Thomson Gale, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson and Star Logo are trademarks and Gale is a registered trademark used herein under license.

For more information, contact

Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Or you can visit our internet site at http://www.gale.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher.

Indexing Services

Synapse, the Knowledge Link Corporation

Rights and Acquisitions

Denise Buckley, Jacqueline Key, William Sampson

Imaging and Multimedia

Dean Dauphinais, Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Lezlie Light, Mike Logusz, Dan Newell, Christine O’Bryan, Kelly A. Quin, Denay Wilding, Robyn Young

This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The authors and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information.

For permission to use material from the product, submit your request via the Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to:

Permisssions Department

Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058

Composition and Electronic Capture

Kathy Sauer

Manufacturing

Rhonda Williams

Product Manager

Janet Witalec

Since this page cannot legibly accommodate all copyright notices, the acknowledgments constitute an extension of the copyright notice.

While every effort has been made to secure permission to reprint material and to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Thomson Gale neither guarantees the accuracy of the data contained herein nor assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions or discrepancies. Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement of the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 94-29718

ISBN 0-7876-8725-1
ISSN 0740-2880

Printed in the United States of America 10987654321

Preface

L
iterature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 (LC) presents critical discussion of world literature from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. The literature of this period is especially vital: the years 1400 to 1800 saw the rise of modern European drama, the birth of the novel and personal essay forms, the emergence of newspapers and periodicals, and major achievements in poetry and philosophy. LC provides valuable insight into the art, life, thought, and cultural transformations that took place during these centuries.

Scope of the Series

LC provides an introduction to the great poets, dramatists, novelists, essayists, and philosophers of the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries, and to the most significant interpretations of these authors’ works. Because criticism of this literature spans nearly six hundred years, an overwhelming amount of scholarship confronts the student. LC organizes this material concisely and logically. Every attempt is made to reprint the most noteworthy, relevant, and educationally valuable essays available.

A separate Thomson Gale reference series, Shakespearean Criticism, is devoted exclusively to Shakespearean studies. Although properly belonging to the period covered in LC, William Shakespeare has inspired such a tremendous and evergrowing body of secondary material that a separate series was deemed essential.

Each entry in LC presents a representative selection of critical response to an author, a literary topic, or to a single important work of literature. Early commentary is offered to indicate initial responses, later selections document changes in literary reputations, and retrospective analyses provide the reader with modern views. The size of each author entry is a relative reflection of the scope of the criticism available in English. Every attempt has been made to identify and include the seminal essays on each author’s work and to include recent commentary providing modern perspectives.

Volumes 1 through 12 of the series feature author entries arranged alphabetically by author. Volumes 13-47 of the series feature a thematic arrangement. Each volume includes an entry devoted to the general study of a specific literary or philosophical movement, writings surrounding important political and historical events, the philosophy and art associated with eras of cultural transformation, or the literature of specific social or ethnic groups. Each of these volumes also includes several author entries devoted to major representatives of the featured period, genre, or national literature. With volume 48, the series returns to a standard author approach, with some entries devoted to a single important work of world literature and others devoted to literary topics.

Organization of the Book

An LC entry consists of the following elements:

  • © The Author Heading cites the name under which the author most commonly wrote, followed by birth and death dates. Also located here are any name variations under which an author wrote, including transliterated forms for authors whose native languages use nonroman alphabets. If the author wrote consistently under a pseudonym, the pseudonym will be listed in the author heading and the author’s actual name given in parenthesis on the first line of the biographical and critical information. Uncertain birth or death dates are indicated by question marks. Topic entries are preceded by a Thematic Heading, which simply states the subject of the entry. Single-work entries are preceded by the title of the work and its date of publication.
  • © The Introduction contains background information that introduces the reader to the author, work, or topic that is the subject of the entry.

    • vii

    The Clarendon Press, 1952. Copyright © 1952 by The Clarendon Press. Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press.—Janelle, Pierre. From Robert Southwell, the Writer: A Study in Religious Inspiration. Sheed and Ward, 1935. Copyright © 1935 by Sheed and Ward. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.—Johnson, Ronald C. From George Gascoigne. Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1972. Copyright © 1972 by Twayne Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Gale Group.—Lewis, Philip E. From La Rochefoucauld and the Art of Abstraction. Cornell University Press, 1977. Copyright © 1977 by Cornell University Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of Cornell University Press.—McDonald, James H. and Nancy Pollard Brown. From “General Introduction,” in The Poems of Robert Southwell, S. J. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1967. Edited by James H. McDonald and Nancy Pollard Brown. Copyright

  • © Oxford University Press 1967. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.—Rubidge, Bradley. From “Psychological Atomism, Amour-propre, and the Language of Generosity,” in La Rochefoucauld, Mithridate, Freres et sours, Les Muses sours: Actes du 29e congres annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature. Edited by Claire Carlin. Gunter Narr Verlag, 1998. Copyright © 1998 Gunter Narr Verlag Tubingen. Reproduced by permission.— Scallon, Joseph D. From The Poetry of Robert Southwell, S. J. Institut fur Englische Sprache und Literatur, Universitat Salzburg, 1975. Copyright © 1968 by Joseph D. Scallon. Reproduced by permission.—Straub, Susan. From “The Lady Frances Did Watch: Gascoigne’s Voyeuristic Narrative,” in Framing Elizabethan Fictions: Contemporary Approaches to Early Modern Narrative Prose. Edited by Constance C. Relihan. Copyright © 1996 by Kent State University Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.—Wallace, William L. From an introduction in George Gascoigne’s The Steele Glas and The Complainte of Phylomene: A Critical Edition with an Introduction. Edited by Dr. James Hogg. Copyright
  • © 1975 by William L. Wallace. Reproduced by permission.—Weber, Joseph C. From “The Maximes as Theatre,” in Actes de Wake Forest. Edited by Milorad R. Margitic and Byron R. Wells. Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, 1987. Copyright © 1987 by Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.—Weiss, Beno and Louis C. Perez. From Beginnings and Discoveries: Polydore Vergil’s De Inventoribus Rerum. De Graaf Publishers, 1997. Copyright © 1997 by Beno Weiss and Louis C. Perez. Reproduced by permission.
    • PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS APPEARING IN LC, VOLUME 108, WERE RECEIVED FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES:

    English poet and Jesuit martyr Robert Southwell (1561-1595). Engraving by W. J. Alais after a drawing by Charles Ward. Mary Evans Picture Library. Reproduced by permission.—Engraving by Andre Thevet of the Italian historian Polydore Virgil (1470-1555). Mary Evans Picture Library. Reproduced by permission.—François de la Rochefoucauld, sixth duke of La Rochefoucauld. Roger Viollet/Getty Images. Reproduced by permission.—George Gascoigne, English poet and writer of short stories, satires, comedies, and sonnets (1569-1577). Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Reproduced by permission.

    Thomson Gale Literature Product Advisory Board

    The members of the Thomson Gale Literary Criticism Series Advisory Board—reference librarians and subject specialists from public, academic, and school library systems—represent a cross-section of our customer base and offer a variety of informed perspectives on both the presentation and content of our literature criticism products. Advisory board members assess and define such quality issues as the relevance, currency, and usefulness of the author coverage, critical content, and literary topics included in our series; evaluate the layout, presentation, and general quality of our printed volumes; provide feedback on the criteria used for selecting authors and topics covered in our series; provide suggestions for potential enhancements to our series; identify any gaps in our coverage of authors or literary topics, recommending authors or topics for inclusion; analyze the appropriateness of our content and presentation for various user audiences, such as high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, librarians, and educators; and offer feedback on any proposed changes/ enhancements to our series. We wish to thank the following advisors for their advice throughout the year.

    Barbara M. Bibel

    Librarian Oakland Public Library Oakland, California

    Dr. Toby Burrows

    Principal Librarian The Scholars’ Centre University of Western Australia Library Nedlands, Western Australia

    Celia C. Daniel

    Associate Librarian, Reference Howard University Washington, D.C.

    David M. Durant

    Reference Librarian Joyner Library East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina

    Nancy Guidry

    Librarian Bakersfield Community College Bakersfield, California

    Steven R. Harris

    Collection Development Librarian Utah State University Logan,Utah

    Mary Jane Marden

    Collection Development Librarian St. Petersburg College Pinellas Park, Florida

    Heather Martin

    Arts & Humanities Librarian University of Alabama, Sterne Library Birmingham, Alabama

    Susan Mikula

    Director Indiana Free Library Indiana, Pennsylvania

    Thomas Nixon

    Humanities Reference Librarian University of North Carolina, Davis Library Chapel Hill, North Carolina

    Mark Schumacher

    Jackson Library University of North Carolina Greensboro, North Carolina

    Gwen Scott-Miller

    Assistant Director Sno-Isle Regional Library System Marysville, Washington

    Donald Welsh

    Head, Reference Services College of William and Mary, Swem Library Williamsburg, Virginia

    Dictionary Tip:

    Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.