The Performance of Nobility in Early Modern European Literature

by David M. Posner

Overview

This valuable study illuminates the idea of nobility as display, as public performance, in Renaissance and seventeenth-century literature and society. Through detailed readings of major authors, including Castiglione, Montaigne, Bacon and Corneille, David Posner examines the tensions between literary or imaginative representations of "nobility," and the increasingly problematic historical position of the nobility themselves. Situated at the intersection of rhetorical and historical theories of interpretation, this book contributes significantly to our understanding of how literature can both analyze and shape social identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521034876
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/14/2006
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture , #33
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.63(d)
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: 'The Noble Hart'; 2. Montaigne and the staging of the self; 3. Mask and error in Francis Bacon; 4. Noble Romans: Corneille and the theatre of aristocratic revolt; 5. La Bruyère and the end of the theatre of nobility; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent resource for graduate students, research faculty, and social and literary historians." Choice

From the Publisher