The Power of the Passive Self in English Literature, 1640-1770

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 12
i. DREAMS OF DISINTEREST......Page 15
ii. UNIVERSAL SELF-INTEREST......Page 25
iii. THE POWER OF THE PASSIVE SELF......Page 31
CHAPTER 1 “Acted by Another”: agency and action in early modern England......Page 35
i. CROMWELL AND ACTION......Page 37
ii. PASSIVITY AND ‘‘PREVENTING GRACE’’......Page 46
iii. AGENCY AND ACTION......Page 57
iv. THE POWER OF PASSIVITY......Page 62
CHAPTER 2 “The belief of the people”: Thomas Hobbes and the battle over the heroic......Page 68
i. HEROISM IN CAROLINE ENGLAND......Page 70
ii. THE ATTACK ON ROMANCE......Page 78
iii. DISINTERESTED SELVES......Page 89
CHAPTER 3 “For want of some heedfull Eye”: Mr. Spectator and the power of spectacle......Page 100
i. DISCIPLINARY TRADITIONS......Page 105
ii. THE CHARACTER OF MR. SPECTATOR......Page 111
iii. THE POWER OF THE SPECTACLE......Page 118
CHAPTER 4 “For its own sake”: virtue and agency in early eighteenth-century England......Page 133
i. REASON AND PRUDENTIALISM......Page 135
ii. THE MORAL SENSE......Page 145
iii. NATURE AND IMMEDIACY......Page 156
CHAPTER 5 “Not perform’d at all”: managing Garrick’s body in eighteenth-century England......Page 167
i. GARRICK AS ‘‘FATHER’’......Page 170
ii. ‘‘NATURAL’’ LIMITATION......Page 174
iii. THE PASSIVE ACTOR......Page 180
iv. MANAGING GARRICK......Page 186
CHAPTER 6 “I wrote my Heart”: Richardson’s Clarissa and the tactics of sentiment......Page 196
i. CLARISSA THE RHETORICIAN?......Page 199
ii. THE USE OF SENTIMENT......Page 206
iii. CLARISSA AND BELIEF......Page 215
Epilogue: “a sign of so noble a passion”: the politics of disinterested selves......Page 226
INTRODUCTION: ‘‘SPRING AND MOTIVE OF OUR ACTIONS’’: DISINTEREST AND SELF-INTEREST......Page 229
1. ‘‘ACTED BY ANOTHER’’: AGENCY AND ACTION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND......Page 232
2. ‘‘THE BELIEF OF THE PEOPLE’’: THOMAS HOBBES AND THE BATTLE OVER THE HEROIC......Page 238
3. ‘‘FOR WANT OF SOME HEEDFULL EYE’’: MR. SPECTATOR AND THE POWER OF SPECTACLE......Page 243
4. ‘‘FOR ITS OWN SAKE’’: VIRTUE AND AGENCY IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND......Page 248
5. ‘‘NOT PERFORM’D AT ALL’’: MANAGING GARRICK’S BODY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND......Page 253
6. ‘‘I WROTE MY HEART’’: RICHARDSON’S CLARISSA AND THE TACTICS OF SENTIMENT......Page 257
EPILOGUE: ‘A SIGN OF SO NOBLE A PASSION’: THE POLITICS OF DISINTERESTED SELVES......Page 262
Bibliography......Page 263
Index......Page 287