Skepticism and Memory in Shakespeare and Donne [Hardcover]

This book fills a lacuna in the intellectual history of the seventeenth century by investigating the role that skepticism plays in the declining prestige of memory. It argues that Shakespeare and Donne revolutionize the art of memory, thanks to their skepticism, and thereby transform literary strategies like mimesis, exemplarity, and pastoral.The Art of Doubt * Forgetting Knowledge in Donne_s Anniversaries * Disowning the Art of Memory in Shakespeare_s The Winter_s Tale * Acknowledging the Past in Donne_s Ignatius his Conclave * Experiencing Freedom from the Past in Shakespeare and Fletcher_s All Is True * Skeptical Epitaphs and Prospective Memory in Donne and Shakespeare

Praise for Skepticism and Memory in Shakespeare and Donne

'An elegantly conceived and probing study. Written with verve and clarity, this book takes up a thread of thinking in recent criticism about skeptical modalities in Renaissance literature, in particular, skepticism's formal modes and masks. Within the field defined by the interlocking themes of skepticism and memory, it places in dialogue the pair of Shakespeare and Donne - two central Renaissance authors very rarely studied together - and makes a strong contribution.'; Kenneth Gross, University of Rochester, USA, Author of Shylock is Shakespeare and Shakespeare's Noise

'...Anita Gilman Sherman tackles this well-worn subject in fresh and innovative ways.' - Modern Philology

Anita Gilman Sherman is Assistant Professor of Literature at American University.