16th-17th Century French Literature - Literary Criticism, Religious Poetry - Literary Criticism, French Poetry - Literary Criticism, Philosophy & Literature, Literature, Christian, Religion & Literature

Mirroring Belief

Name: Mirroring Belief
Author: Edinburgh University Press for the University of Durham, c1992.
ISBN: 9780748603473

by Edinburgh University Press for the University of Durham, c1992.

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Overview

Largely on the basis of her great prose work L'Heptameron, Marguerite de Navarre has been accepted as an important writer of the French Renaissance. At the same time, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to the poems and verse plays which constitute such an important part of her literary legacy. Gary Ferguson uses his detailed knowledge of the richness of sixteenth-century devotional writing to re-assess Marguerite de Navarre's poetry. He shows that this genre was of particular importance during the period of religious confusion of the early Reformation, since it combines elements of both mystical and theological writing. From this basis, Ferguson offers a re-evaluation of the poetry of this devout thinker, revealing her views on issues as fundamental as the nature of justification; the role of the Church and the sacraments; the problem of faith and works; and the question of the Bible and its interpretation. The conclusion reached is that the religious questions Marguerite explores within her poetry are not only central to her own writings, but also to her age.