Laborious Ben Jonson's Lexicon
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones December 2017 Studies in Words: Laborious Ben Jonson's Lexicon Steven Hrdlicka University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Language Description and Documentation Commons, and the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons Repository Citation Hrdlicka, Steven, "Studies in Words: Laborious Ben Jonson's Lexicon" (2017). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 3140. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/11889709 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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STUDIES IN WORDS: LABORIOUS BEN JONSON’S LEXICON By Steven Hrdlicka Bachelor of Arts in English University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2004 Master of Arts in English University of Nevada, Reno 2010 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy - English Department of English College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2017 Dissertation Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas September 15, 2017 This dissertation prepared by Steven Hrdlicka entitled Studies in Words: Laborious Ben Jonson’s Lexicon is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy - English Department of English Richard Harp, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Interim Dean Donald Revell, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Timothy Erwin, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Margaret Harp, Ph.D. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines significant words in Ben Jonson’s poetic lexicon that the poet inherited, borrowed, and shaped from antiquity and through the Middle Ages. Jonson used etymology as a means to rhetorical inventio, a common practice in the Renaissance. Etymology comprehended more than mere word derivation in the Renaissance but also notably included philological study. Ben Jonson’s extensive knowledge of language, history, architecture, the plastic arts, and philosophy is well known, but the extent to which Jonson’s knowledge of these subjects contributed to his understanding and use of poetic language is not. Thus this dissertation seeks to explore the intellectual and poetic history of a number of key terms and to demonstrate the extent to which Jonson can be seen to conceive of simultaneously both new and old uses of these words in his distinctively renaissance context, an era characterized by radical change and innovation. In addition, this dissertation compares Jonson’s use of important words such as “book,” “sense,” and “author” to how other authors such as John Donne, George Herbert, John Milton, Shakespeare, Robert Southwell, and Sir Phillip Sidney use them, and demonstrates that these other authors were also to some extent aware of the complex etymological and intellectual history of particularly rich words. John Donne’s poem, Amicissimo & meritissimo for example, provides contemporary contextual evidence for Jonson’s curious understanding of poetic “labour” which aids understanding of the way Jonson redeploys classical language in the Renaissance. This dissertation is meant to be a reference work for a wide range of audiences, useful to both the Renaissance specialist and the undergraduate student alike, and aims to shed light on distinctively renaissance issues that would naturally lead to further inquiry and research. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to whole-heartedly thank my dissertation committee for the direction that I received throughout the writing of this dissertation. Dr. Timothy Erwin happily distilled his expertise and many years of study of poetry and the visual arts over casual and delightful conversations and for that I am grateful. Dr. Donald Revell inspired me beyond words to wonder at the seeing of poetry—beyond scansion and into music. Only a living poet can do that. Dr. Margaret Harp helped keep things afloat (when I thought that I might sink) and also provided welcome Continental contexts that I would be wise to consider when turning to further research and developing this dissertation into a manuscript for publication. To the chair of my committee, Dr. Richard Harp, I owe all that I am in arts (How nothing’s that!): My digging into words and origins, the great works, classical and renaissance rhetoric and composition, Modern Irish painting and poetry, and most of all, into teaching. This all came about through a rare flood of generosity and patience. He thoughtfully mentored my development with various projects that somehow always suited my inclinations (and yet still kept the door ajar to encourage study of other periods, authors, arts, and of general literary ideas). Add to this that Dr. Harp’s office door was always open, just as he was open to discuss whatever was on my mind—whether it were my self-inflated anxieties with The Gutenberg Galaxy or with graduate school. I aspire to be like Dr. Harp in many ways, especially to grow to become liberal with my time with students, and to be able to nascantur in admiratione—to lead students into the thrill of discovering things on their own. I would also like to thank Brandon Schneeberger for his friendship and comments. His editorial eye, friendly open criticism, and tireless ear all helped me complete this dissertation. iv How can I even begin to thank my parents? Not only did they continually support my efforts throughout all of this but they also kept me grounded. After all, they grew up and went to school in Europe! Regardless of the amount of research I consulted on painting, architecture, history, language, and the like, I have not even come close to equaling their deep yet casual knowledge of these subjects. In addition, they pulled me away from the dissertation a number of times when needed. For example, last summer at Wheeler in the Great Basin National Park we all braved nature’s surprises for a couple of days at 10,000 feet—splitting logs, stargazing, and that kind of thing. Finally, to my wife Kimberlee I know I owe the deepest debts. How many books and papers were scattered all over our tiny house, taking up even our dinner table with findings and research only some of her photographs can tell, many of which she snapped in chuckling disbelief of what nature and necessity can do. What those photographs and these words cannot tell is the endless support and genuine interest we have shared in our mutual study of painting and poetry. I would not have completed this dissertation without the many good and great conversations we had, made possible through patience, which then always resulted in Kim’s significant, honest comments. Thankfully, I listened. v DEDICATION za Tatko mi i Majka mi koi su mi dali život i podrška da bi mogao da ostvarim ovo posvetim ovj rad i moju molitvi na Oče naš— vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction to Ben Jonson’s Lexicon...........................................................................1 Overview of Criticism on Ben Jonson’s Authorship.............................................12 Chapter 2: Medieval Ben Jonson ..................................................................................................21 Division, Store, Gather...........................................................................................21 Flower, Honey, Composition..................................................................................24 Eating, Digestion, Ruminating...............................................................................27 Author.....................................................................................................................30 Book and Original..................................................................................................38 Light, Commonwealth, Life, Name, Raise, Stand, Story (History).........................42 Face and Mirror (Glass)........................................................................................55 Seeing Shakespeare’s Face....................................................................................57 Chapter 3: Sense in Jonson’s Poetry and Masques........................................................................62 Picture....................................................................................................................62 Overview of Issues in Jonson’s Visual Poetics......................................................63 Sense and Sentence...............................................................…………………......72 Body, Soul, Memory...............................................................................................73 Image, Imagination, Phantasy, Common Sense.....................................................75 Sense in Jonson’s Poetry………………………………………………………....79