{"product_id":"emotion-and-the-self-in-english-renaissance-literature-reforming-contentment-paperback-softback-9781009271707","title":"Emotion and the Self in English Renaissance Literature; Reforming Contentment (Paperback \/ softback) 9781009271707","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eEmotion and the Self in English Renaissance Literature\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eReforming Contentment\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUnearthing a little-studied Reformation discourse of contentment, this book shows its surprising significance in Renaissance literature.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003ePaul Joseph Zajac (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781009271707, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 19 June 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e242 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.356 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'essential reading for any scholar interested in the role of affect in the shaping of English Renaissance literature and culture.' Mathew R. Martin, Renaissance and Reformation\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eThis book offers the first full-length study of early modern contentment, the emotional and ethical principle that became the gold standard of English Protestant psychology and an abiding concern of English Renaissance literature. Theorists and literary critics have equated contentedness with passivity, stagnation, and resignation. However, this book excavates an early modern understanding of contentment as dynamic, protective, and productive. While this concept has roots in classical and medieval philosophy, contentment became newly significant because of the English Reformation. Reformers explored contentedness as a means to preserve the self and prepare the individual to endure and engage the outside world. Their efforts existed alongside representations and revisions of contentment by authors including Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton. By examining Renaissance models of contentment, this book explores alternatives to Calvinist despair, resists scholarly emphasis on negative emotions, and reaffirms the value of formal concerns to studies of literature, religion, and affect.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e 1. Constructing contentment in Reformation England\u003cbr\u003e 2. Romancing contentment: sex, suffering, and the passions in Sidney's Arcadias\u003cbr\u003e 3. Fashioning contentment: ethics, emotion, and literary mode in Spenser's poetry\u003cbr\u003e 4. Performing contentment: communal affect and passionate disconnect in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Othello\u003cbr\u003e 5. Losing contentment: Affect, environment, and empire in Milton's Paradise Lost\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion: regaining contentment?\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Theology [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Theology\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Theology%20%5BHRLB%5D%22\"\u003eHRLB\u003c\/a\u003e], Shakespeare studies \u0026amp; criticism [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Shakespeare studies \u0026amp; criticism\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Shakespeare%20studies%20\u0026amp;%20criticism%20%5BDSGS%5D%22\"\u003eDSGS\u003c\/a\u003e], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Literary%20studies:%20c%201500%20to%20c%201800%20%5BDSBD%5D%22\"\u003eDSBD\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52413975757080,"sku":"9781009271707","price":21.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781009271707i.jpg?v=1784333004","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/emotion-and-the-self-in-english-renaissance-literature-reforming-contentment-paperback-softback-9781009271707","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}