Donne's Religious Writing: A Discourse of Feigned Devotion

Many of Donne's religious works are little known and have suffered unjustifiable critical neglect. Others, in particular the Holy Sonnets and Hymns, remain popular and much studied. Yet little has been written to guide readers through the complexities of the works' political, theological and literary contexts. Informed by new research, Donne's Religious Writing - the first study to focus solely on Donne's sacred poetry and prose - makes these contexts fully accessible. Donne's individual circumstances are not neglected: his rejection of his Catholic upbringing is shown to have resulted in an ongoing attempt on his part to define himself in relation to the Church of Rome. The author challenges many of the received opinions about the way in which Donne's writing draws on Catholic and Protestant modes of devotion, and provides a much more persuasive account of the development of his thought, and a more accurate assessment of the nature and originality of his religious writing, than has hitherto been possible. Donne's Religious Writing offers a thorough and detailed introduction to the entire canon of Donne's sacred poetry and prose. It will be particularly useful to those taking courses in the literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but its account of the religious allegiances and thought of Donne's time will interest both undergraduate and postgraduate students of early modern culture and history.