Consulting an extensive archive of early modern literature, Joy of
the Worm asserts that voluntary death in literature is not always a
matter of tragedy. In this study, Drew Daniel identifies a
surprisingly common aesthetic attitude that he calls "joy of the
worm," after Cleopatra's embrace of the deadly asp in Shakespeare's
play-a pattern where voluntary death is imagined as an occasion for
humor, mirth, ecstatic pleasure, even joy and celebration. Daniel
draws both a historical and a conceptual distinction between
"self-killing" and "suicide." Standard intellectual histories of
suicide in the early modern period have understandably emphasized
attitudes of abhorrence, scorn, and severity toward voluntary
death. Daniel reads an archive of literary scenes and passages,
dating from 1534 to 1713, that complicate this picture. In their
own distinct responses to the surrounding attitude of censure,
writers including Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Addison imagine
death not as sin or sickness, but instead as a heroic gift, sexual
release, elemental return, amorous fusion, or political
self-rescue. "Joy of the worm" emerges here as an aesthetic mode
that shades into schadenfreude, sadistic cruelty, and deliberate
"trolling," but can also underwrite powerful feelings of belonging,
devotion, and love.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
