The Renaissance Discovery of Violence, from Boccaccio to Shakespeare

This study looks at key Renaissance texts in the novelle collection, the humanist satire, epic-romance, and vernacular tragedy. It places both violence and its representations in the context of major historical events, like the Sack of Rome, and developments in the history of violence per se.

Many have wondered why the works of Shakespeare and other early modern writers are so filled with violence, with murder and mayhem. This work explains how and why, putting the literature of the European Renaissance in the context of the history of violence. Personal violence was on the decline in Europe beginning in the fifteenth century, but warfare became much deadlier and the stakes of war became much higher as the new nation-states vied for hegemony and the New World became a target of a shattering invasion. There are times when Renaissance writers seem to celebrate violence, but more commonly they anatomized it and were inclined to focus on victims as well as warriors on the horrors of violence as well as the need for force to protect national security and justice. In Renaissance writing, violence has lost its innocence.

Get The Renaissance Discovery of Violence, from Boccaccio to Shakespeare by at the best price and quality guaranteed only at Werezi Africa's largest book ecommerce store. The book was published by Anthem Press and it has pages.