{"title":"Homo Homini Lupus: Webster's The Duchess of Malfi and the Vicissitudes of a Political Adage","authors":"Jeffrey B. Griswold","doi":"10.1353/sip.2022.0006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article contextualizes John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi within early modern usage of the adage \"homo homini lupus\" in the period's political philosophy. Webster draws on sixteenth-century usage of the phrase in the work of Scottish and French resistance thinkers to depict tyranny, but then he extends its meaning through Ferdinand's lycanthropy. The Duchess of Malfi anticipates representations of human nature typical of seventeenth-century contract theory but is skeptical of political solutions to human brutality. The play exploits the human negative exceptionalist logic that is implicit within \"homo homini lupus\" to create a deeply pessimistic depiction of human nature and the future of politics.","PeriodicalId":45500,"journal":{"name":"STUDIES IN PHILOLOGY","volume":"119 1","pages":"170 - 190"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"STUDIES IN PHILOLOGY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/sip.2022.0006","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:This article contextualizes John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi within early modern usage of the adage "homo homini lupus" in the period's political philosophy. Webster draws on sixteenth-century usage of the phrase in the work of Scottish and French resistance thinkers to depict tyranny, but then he extends its meaning through Ferdinand's lycanthropy. The Duchess of Malfi anticipates representations of human nature typical of seventeenth-century contract theory but is skeptical of political solutions to human brutality. The play exploits the human negative exceptionalist logic that is implicit within "homo homini lupus" to create a deeply pessimistic depiction of human nature and the future of politics.
摘要:本文将约翰·韦伯斯特(John Webster)的《马尔菲公爵夫人》(The Duchess of Malfi)置于现代早期政治哲学中“人与狼”(homo homini lupus)这句谚语的语境中进行分析。韦伯斯特借鉴了16世纪苏格兰和法国抵抗运动思想家的作品中对这个词的用法来描述暴政，但随后他通过费迪南德的狼人行为扩展了它的含义。马尔菲公爵夫人期待17世纪契约理论中典型的人性表现，但对人类暴行的政治解决方案持怀疑态度。该剧利用了隐含在“人类狼疮”中的人类消极例外论逻辑，对人性和政治的未来进行了深刻的悲观描写。
期刊介绍：
Founded in 1903, Studies in Philology addresses scholars in a wide range of disciplines, though traditionally its strength has been English Medieval and Renaissance studies. SIP publishes articles on British literature before 1900 and on relations between British literature and works in the Classical, Romance, and Germanic Languages.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
