Overview

Available in its entirety for the first time in a half-century, this textbook is the first and only to present, in a complete manner, a general theory of rhetoric in Renaissance England. This examination provides a handbook of the Renaissance theory of composition and shows, with ample illustration from his plays and poems, how Shakespeare used this theory. It is a volume addressed to the wide audience of teachers of English and Renaissance literature, the philologist, the Shakespearean scholar, and students and teachers of all Romance literatures. Its particular contribution is the reorganisation of 200 figures of speech, as distinguished by Renaissance rhetoricians, into a simple, understandable pattern. Through the tripartite filter of logic, grammar, and rhetoric, Shakespeare's true mastery of the English language can finally be grasped. Illuminating and revelatory, this study brings to life the wealth of linguistic resources that would have been at the Bard's fingertips and shows how he used them to ulti

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9781589880252

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The importance of this book is that it makes clear what we ought to mean when we call Shakespeare an artist in language. [N]ot until now have modern readers been told how immense a thing rhetoric was in the Renaissance--how immense in scope, and how endlessly detailed in its numerous parts. Nor has it been apparent how thoroughly Shakespeare was master of this rhetoric. Few books about him will ever be more exciting. --Mark Van Doren, New York Herald Tribune<br>

Author Information

Sister Miriam Joseph, CSC, was a member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and a professor of English at Saint Mary's College from 1931 to 1960. She is the author of The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric, and many articles on Shakespeare and the trivium.

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