Rhetoric and Chastity: Gower's Depiction of Rhetorical Practice in the Lucrece Myth.
- Author/Editor
- Sharp, Joseph.
- Title
- Rhetoric and Chastity: Gower's Depiction of Rhetorical Practice in the Lucrece Myth.
- Published
- Sharp, Joseph. "Rhetoric and Chastity: Gower's Depiction of Rhetorical Practice in the Lucrece Myth." Journal for the History of Rhetoric 25, no. 3 (November 2022): 257–78.
- Review
- Sharp examines Gower's approach in Book VII of the "Confessio Amantis" in terms of "deliberative rhetoric" (257 and passim), examining Gower's incorporation of a rhetorical understanding into the counselling purpose of that section of the poem. Sharp argues that "Gower's positioning of his discussion of rhetoric within the genre of the mirror for princes, or Fürstenspiegel, suggests that he understood rhetoric as an inherently political practice and that the knowledge contained under the category of rhetoric was instrumental for the governance of a kingdom" (257). He contextualizes this alongside medieval adaptations of Aristotelian rhetorical understanding, and the broader genre of "the offering and acceptance of counsel between lord and vassal" (258), arguing that "Gower depicts rhetoric as a hierarchical system specifically adapted for the monarchy in its melding of rhetorical practice with Aristotelian virtue ethics. Thus, his 'Confessio Amantis' represents an important and overlooked contribution to medieval rhetoric" (258). Sharp foregrounds "how Gower accounts for the ambiguity, contingency, and sensibility of language within his theory of deliberative rhetoric" (259), making a case to identify that theory of rhetoric in terms of Gower's practice in Book VII. Sharp engages significantly with Gower's rhetorical understanding of late medieval approaches to Aristotelian ethics, such as Latini and Aquinas (260), arguing that the exempla featured by works like the CA are analogous to the "habituation" to virtue called for by Aristotle (261). Sharp further notes the association of sensory desire with the vices Gower critiques throughout the CA, to associate Gower's rhetoric in Book 7 to the need to manage speech and language (265). Sharp argues that Gower thus relates the moral goals of Fürstenspiegel to the rhetorical goals of his verse, ultimately focusing on an endorsement of "chasteté" (266). Gower's retelling of the Lucrece story illustrates a sovereign's potential use of language interactions to create the possibility of "deliberation and political intervention" (267), tying details of the narrative to figures in the story with power negotiating ambiguity and contingency for "individual or common profit" (267), and overall makes a reasonable case for the rhetorical complexity of this portion of Gower's poem. [RAL. Copyright. John Gower Society. eJGN 43.1]
- Date
- 2022
- Gower Subjects
- Confessio Amantis
Style, Rhetoric, and Versification