Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb [Hardcover]

An innovative study of the Renaissance practice of making epitaphic gestures within other English genres. A poetics of quotation uncovers the?ways in which writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Holinshed, Sidney, Jonson, Donne, and Elizabeth I?have recited these texts within new contexts.Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Reciting 'Epitaph' and 'Genre' in Early Modern England Here lies : Pointing to the Graue Forme Turn Thy Tombe Into a Throne : Elizabeth I's Death Rehearsal In good stead of an epitaph : Verifying History Killing rhetorick : The Poetics of Movere An theater of mortality : In Sincerity, Onstage Lapping-up of Matter : Epitaphic Closure in Elegies Epilogue: Epitaph for Epitaph Bibliography Index

This is an exceptionally learned and sophisticated piece of writing. & provides an impressive, even disorientating amount of data, and he ties this data into clear and persuasive arguments; there is a theoretical agility about the book, which is refreshing to lock minds with, and also an intellectual authority and intensity. & this is a book that repays close attention, and is something that can be learned from. (The Shakespeare Institute Review, Vol. 1, June, 2012)

Quoting Death adds an important element to our understanding by showing just how far the epitaph was adopted by the language and literary culture of the early modern period. . . . it offers a rewarding extension to religious and ritual culture of the time. - Joseph Sterrett, Cahiers ?lisab?thains

'Quoting Death in Early Modern England is convincing about the significance of epitaphs in early modern texts... Yet the strength of the book is in its thorough and clear treatment of a subject less tangential than a reader may first suspect.'

- Jack Heller, Appositions: Studies in Renaissance/Early Modern Literature& Culture

'This is a stimulating exploration of a neglected genrel£`