{"product_id":"animal-characters-nonhuman-beings-in-early-modern-literature-hardback-9780812242492","title":"Animal Characters; Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature (Hardback) 9780812242492","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAnimal Characters\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eNonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eBruce Thomas Boehrer (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780812242492\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 27 July 2010\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e256 pages, 8 illus.\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.518 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Always succinct, surprising and often amusing, this book is a joy to read. The detail is where it shines. . . . \u003ci\u003eAnimal Characters\u003c\/i\u003e records, represents, and renews early modern animals with style, wit, and erudition.\" (\u003ci\u003eShakespeare Studies\u003c\/i\u003e) \"An interesting take on the problematic question of literary character, as well as a significant contribution to scholarship on anthropocentrism and the cultural history of personhood. The enthusiasm and scope of the writing make it an engaging read, and the depth and breadth of the source material is quite fascinating.\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Medieval Review\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the Renaissance, horses-long considered the privileged, even sentient companions of knights-errant-gradually lost their special place on the field of battle and, with it, their distinctive status in the world of chivalric heroism. Parrots, once the miraculous, articulate companions of popes and emperors, declined into figures of mindless mimicry. Cats, which were tortured by Catholics in the Middle Ages, were tortured in the Reformation as part of the Protestant attack on Catholicism. And sheep, the model for Agnus Dei imagery, underwent transformations at once legal, material, and spiritual as a result of their changing role in Europe's growing manufacturing and trade economies. While in the Middle Ages these nonhumans were endowed with privileged social associations, personal agency, even the ability to reason and speak, in the early modern period they lost these qualities at the very same time that a new emphasis on, and understanding of, human character was developing in European literature.\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eAnimal Characters\u003c\/i\u003e Bruce Thomas Boehrer follows five species-the horse, the parrot, the cat, the turkey, and the sheep-through their appearances in an eclectic mix of texts, from romances and poetry to cookbooks and natural histories. He shows how dramatic changes in animal character types between 1400 and 1700 relate to the emerging economy and culture of the European Renaissance. In early modern European culture, animals not only served humans as sources of labor, companionship, clothing, and food; these nonhuman creatures helped to form an understanding of personhood. Incorporating readings of Shakespeare's plays, Milton's \u003ci\u003eParadise Lost\u003c\/i\u003e, Margaret Cavendish's \u003ci\u003eBlazing World\u003c\/i\u003e, and other works, Boehrer's series of animal character studies illuminates a fascinating period of change in interspecies relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Animal Studies and the Problem of Character\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. Baiardo's Legacy\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. The Cardinal's Parrot\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. Ecce Feles\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. The People's Peacock\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. \"Vulgar Sheepe\"\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion: O Blazing World\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Works Cited\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52702426399000,"sku":"9780812242492","price":38.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/animal-characters-nonhuman-beings-in-early-modern-literature-hardback-9780812242492","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}