Overview

The latter half of the seventeenth century was a time of great social and political upheaval, reflected in the literature of the period in a way which is often bewildering to the modern reader. Choosing two themes which greatly occupied contemporary writers—the state as an enlarged family, and the family as the state in miniature—Peter Malekin in his book Liberty and Love (originally published in 1981) brings both critical insight and research in social history to bear on a rich variety of seventeenth-century literature. The burning political issue of the day was the nature of the constitution. Peter Malekin’s discussion ranges over the abstract political philosophy of Hobbes, Filmer and Locke, the Putney Debates, and selections from the poetry of Milton, Marvell, Denham and Dryden to show how writers treated the issue not just as a political question but as a way of expressing their thoughts about the nature of man. The role—if not the nature—of women was another contentious issue in seventeenth-century society. Through a discussion of the poetry and of Restoration comedy, Malekin describes women’s relations with their families, with men and with the world at large, and analyses their bid for greater independence during and after the Civil War. This refreshingly lively and original book draws together works which are too often treated in isolation and will help students to enjoy the literature of a period close in spirit to our own.

Full Product Details

Author:   Peter Malekin
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9781041097310

ISBN 10:   104109731
Pages:   232
Publication Date:   01 September 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: Sweet Land of Liberty 1. Prologue: Jacobean and Caroline political trends 2. Denham’s ‘Cooper’s Hill’ and the constitution: a royalist viewpoint 3. Marvell and the constitution: a Parliamentarian viewpoint 4. Liberty and order: the wider spectrum: Filmer – Hobbes – The Putney Debates – Locke 5. Milton: the political pamphlets and Paradise Lost 6. Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel and the Popish Plot 7. The satirical aftermath: Dryden, Oldham, Shadwell and Settle Part 2: The Woman’s Workhouse 8. Prologue: ‘Love, the Life of Life’ 9. The inheritance from the Middle Ages 10. Propagation and contraception in the seventeenth century 11. Love, sex and attitudes to women in the poetry 12. The theory and practice of Protestant marriage 13. Milton: from tracts on divorce to Paradise Lost 14. ‘Imparadist in One Anothers Arms’ or ‘The Ecclesiastical Mouse-trap’: marriage in Restoration comedy Postscript: The flight of the butterflies

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Author Information

Peter Malekin (1931–2014) was an academic who taught at the University of Durham for many years, as well as universities of Tübingen, Baghdad and Uppsala. He had experience of broadcasting, had worked as translator and had done a great deal of public speaking in England and Ireland. His interests included mysticism, approached non-denominationally as a phenomenon of the human mind.

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