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Larbi Ben M'hidi University, Oum El Bouaghi Faculty of Letters and Languages ______Department of English People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research Larbi Ben M'Hidi University, Oum El Bouaghi Faculty of Letters and Languages __________ Department of English A Metaphysical Reading of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet: “Death Be Not Proud” (1634), and The Modern Reception of Death as an Enigmatic Subject. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Letters and Languages, Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Anglo-American studies By AZZOUZ Sabiha Miss Mordjana HADDAD: Supervisor Mr. Toufik KOUSSA: Chairman/examiner 2013-2014 Summary The present work seeks to define the use of the Metaphysical conceit in John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud”. Death has always been considered as a dread and mysterious power that probes into our lives and takes away control of it. This study will show how John Donne defies death and reduces its power. It will also show how the poet grapples with the theme of death from different points of views. This study is our reading and response towards the poem and how it tackled such theme and the way it tackled it. In addition, the major point is to clarify the relation between the reader and the Sonnet “Death Be Not Proud”. Which is structured by the way Donne uses the conceit, and the Metaphysical characteristics to manipulate the meaning in the reader’s mind. The research of the memoire is structured according to various relevant literatures that have detailed and centered study and analysis of the subject of death from a Metaphysical point of view. The basic conclusion to be drown from the whole study is that death as a topic is an escapable destiny for all of us, and to define it we cannot confine to one aspect or science, also the discipline of its meaning and reflects requires a joint of interdisciplinary efforts. Key Words: John Donne- Metaphysical school- Metaphysical conceit- death- reader response- death denial- death aware. i Résumé Le présent travail vise à définir l'utilisation de la vanité métaphysique dans la Sonnet de John Donne "Death Be Not Proud". La mort a toujours été considérée comme une puissance mystérieuse qui sonde dans nos vies et enlève le contrôle. Cette étude montre comment John Donne défie la mort et réduit son pouvoir. Il montrera également comment le poète aux prises avec le thème de la mort d'autres points de vues différents. Cette étude est notre lecture et réponse vers le poème et la façon dont il a abordé comme un thème. En outre, le point important est de clarifier la relation entre le lecteur et la "Death Be Not Proud" Sonnet. Qui est structuré par la voie Donne utilise la vanité, et les caractéristiques métaphysiques de manipuler le sens dans l'esprit du lecteur. La recherche de la mémoire est structurée selon diverses littératures pertinentes qui ont détaillées et centrées et l'analyse de la question de la mort d'un point de vue métaphysique. La conclusion de base à noyer de toute l'étude est que la mort comme un sujet est un destin inéluctable pour nous tous, et à définir nous ne pouvons pas limiter à un aspect ou une science particulière, aussi la discipline de son sens nécessite un joint de efforts interdisciplinaires. ii مهخص ٌذي انمذكزج تسعى إنى تُضيخ مُاطه انفكز انميتافيشيقي في شعز جُن دَن َ قصيذتً ديث تي وُخ تزاَد. نطانما اعتثز انمُخ انقُج انخارقح َ انغامضح انتي تجتاح دياج اﻹوسان, َ تسهثً انقُج َ انسيطزج. نذنك, ٌذي انذراسح انمُضُعيح تتىاَل كيف أن َادذا مه أٌم شعزاء انثُرج اﻷَرَتيح جُن دَن استطاع أن يُاجً ٌذي انقُج َ يقهص مه قُتٍا َ جثزَتٍا, مُضذح كيف أن انشاعز تىاَل مُضُع انمُخ مه عذج سَايا َ َجٍاخ وضز مختهفح. َ تما أن انذراسح مزتكشج عهى انىظزيح اﻷدتيح انمٍتمح تزدج فعم انقارئ, فٍي تُضخ انعﻻقح انُطيذج انتي تزتط انقارئ تانىص اﻷدتي ’ديث تي وُخ تزاَد’, متىاَنح في سياقٍا انمميشاخ َ انخاصياخ نهمذرسح انميتافيشيقيح َ أٌم مسهماتٍا. انخﻻصح مه ٌذي انذراسح انمفصهح ٌي أن انمُخ دتميح كُويح ﻻ يمكىىا انٍزَب مىٍا, َ نكه نهتعزف عهيً كمُضُع َ مذاَنح فك أنغاسي ﻻ يمكىىا أن وعتمذ عهى مجال َادذ, تانعكس فٍُ يتطهة مجمُعح مه انتعاريف في شتى انمجاﻻخ. iii Acknowledgement This work would not have been possible without the help of Allah. I would like to thank first and foremost my supervisor, Miss HADDAD Mordjana, for her patience, valuable instructions and suggestions during the writing of this dissertation. Also, heartfelt thanks go to Mr. KOUSSA Toufik, for his unforgettable guidance and significant instructions, who helped me to raise a great interest in literature with his knowledge and remarkable methods. I am deeply indebted to my virtuous parents and beloved sisters for their help. iv Table of contents SUMMARY…………………………………………………………….i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………… ii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………iii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………iv Chapter 1.Cultural, Historical and Social Context of John Donne’s Writings…………………………………………………………………..5 Chapter 2. John Donne and the Metaphysical school of Poetry: Donne’s assessment in the conceit…………………………………………………26 Chapter 3. Death: Then and Now. From Donne’s Metaphysical Conceit to its Contemporary Reception………………………………………………..52 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….77 WORKS CITED……………………………………………………………...79 v 1 I. General Introduction Is the fear of death universal? the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is the mainspring of human activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man. There is much about death to fear: Whether by accident, disease, or intentional infliction by another human, the path to death for all but a few fortunate humans is accompanied by pain. Death can also be a lonely and isolating experience. Humans are social beings, and their interactions with other humans that complete their existence and give their lives meaning. Death, frequently, separates people from everything that give their lives form; it is the loss of everything that we hold dear. The loss of a beloved one to death is often one of the most emotionally painful experiences that a man can have. In addition, it leads him to question life and the reason behind the end of life and afterlife. Though death seems to be unexplainable, it can be said that it is the only certainty in life. Thus, death is, and has arguably always been, a crucial part of humankind‟s everyday existence, whether we would choose to accept it or not. It is often remarked that death is the great equalizer. Yet our experiences of death are quite different and unique to the historical moment in which we live. In other words, despite the fact that mortality itself is common to all beings, the death that you and I experience will be particularly modern. The subject of death, before, was merely depiction of the religious and spiritual realm. Whereas, as time evolved and people attempted to approach it, via opening new and various doors to make a clear comprehension of what it really is. John Donne‟s Holly Sonnets of his later life are the perfect example of what people used to think of death. John Donne is known as the first and the greatest of Metaphysical poets. The metaphysical poets preferred subjects, as death, because they engendered enigmatic images in reader‟s mind and allowed them to imagine and relate them freely to 2 other subjects or objects. Furthermore, Donne‟s use of this conceit can teach the reader to connect thought and emotions, and form pictures about what is death. Though, the reader response theory was not developed then, but the reader thus always been an important factor in interpreting literature since Plato and Aristotle; certainly, Donne gave that element an important role while writing his poem. Every individual and every culture for centuries has tried to depict the true meaning and subject of one of the vaguest, ultimate, and enigmatic subjects of humanity that is death. for all of as death may be regarded as the victory of a hidden and almighty power of nature over the abilities of humanity, and it is this theme that is explored in greater depth to discover the actual concept of death. What constitutes it and how it can be defined, even though this very point is far from easy and delicate and without dispute, and it is strongly bound into social and cultural norms and traditions. This study will deal with our reception and interpretation of the theme of death in John Donne‟s Holy Sonnet “Death Be Not Proud”. However, to understand this theme, one could return to the poet‟s opinion about death and the Metaphysical subjects. This will largely help us in analyzing the poem. In addition, after reading the poem and explaining its historical and social conditions of production, we shall try to interpret it from a contemporary point of view. Henceforth, the main aim of this research is to contrast the reception of a poem from two different epochs to see whether the idea of death changed or it is the same since Donne‟s days. As it is known, people of modern time have developed their psychology and this may raise the question about one‟s reaction towards death; and to what extant John Donne‟s “Death Be Not Proud” succeeds in shaping and influencing it‟s response and whether it fulfilled the purpose of the speaker. In undermining the might dead and shedding, the light on its vagueness and blurriness, hypothetically speaking, people of modern time had developed 3 their psychology towards death. A fact that in a single culture we might face various and maybe contradictory opinions and attitudes such as conceptualizing death, realization or complete denial of it; therefore the Sonnet‟s study is opened to social cultural, religious and historical approach.
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