The dialectics of Andrew Marvell: A look at Marvell's three dialogue poems, “The Garden,” and “An Horatian Ode” in the context of the history of dialectic

Carol G Sebastian-Curiel, Purdue University

Abstract

This study seeks a clearer understanding of the ways in which Andrew Marvell uses dialectic to structure his lyrics and develop ideas, images and themes. Too often scholars of seventeenth-century English literature use the term dialectic in vague or imprecise ways, failing to acknowledge that the term has multiple meanings in the history of thought. Generally, the concept of dialectic in such scholarship is loosely based on the Aristotelian tradition as taught in the universities of the day, Oxford and Cambridge. This notion of dialectic is unable to adequately describe or account for the play of opposites in Marvell's poetry. Thus, in addition to seeking a clearer concept of dialectic, this study turns to another source of dialectical thought, Heraclitus. It also looks at issues of negativity, sublation, and otherness in dialectic, drawing upon Hegel's thought. When turning to the poems themselves, this study shows that a more precise and complex concept of dialectic does lead to more insights on the structure and movement of ideas in Marvell's lyrics. In the end, however, Marvell's subtle and sophisticated use of dialectic cannot be captured by any one definition, system or development of dialectic in the history of thought.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Lein, Purdue University.

Subject Area

British and Irish literature

COinS