English Authorship and the Early Modern Sublime: Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson

In his book, Patrick Cheney argues that the early modern sublime played a crucial role in the advent of modern authorship in Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson. He challenges the traditional belief that the sublime originated in the eighteenth century and demonstrates how canonical works like The Faerie Queene and King Lear reinvented it as a new standard of authorship. The early modern sublime became a catalyst in forming an English canon, encompassing rational, patriotic paradigms of classical and Christian goodness as well as the eternizing greatness of the author's work.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 23 June 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

In his groundbreaking new book, Patrick Cheney delves into the profound significance of the sublime in the poetry and plays of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England. Cheney argues that the early modern sublime played a crucial role in the emergence of modern authorship, influencing figures such as Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson. Through a series of engaging chapters, he showcases a model of creative excellence and social liberty that illuminates the grandeur of the English Renaissance.

Challenging the prevailing notion that the sublime originated in the eighteenth century, Cheney demonstrates how canonical works like The Faerie Queene and King Lear reinvented sublimity as a new standard of authorship. This standard transcends rational, patriotic paradigms of classical and Christian goodness, encompassing the eternal greatness of the author's work: free, heightened, ecstatic.

As a central force in the advent of modern authorship, the early modern sublime becomes a catalyst in the formation of an English canon. Cheney's insightful analysis sheds light on the profound influence of the sublime on the literary landscape of the time, and his book is a must-read for scholars and enthusiasts alike.

ISBN-13: 9781107627918