Date of Award
2-5-2025
Publication Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing
Keywords
John Donne
Supervisor
Stephen Pender
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This thesis explores the interplay between the physical and metaphysical realms in early modern literature, medicine, and theology, with a specific focus on the works of seventeenth century poet and preacher, John Donne. By examining works such as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions and its portrayals of affliction, the soul, and divine intervention, the paper interrogates the ways in which the mind, body, and spirit converge to shape human experience and spiritual transformation. Central to this analysis is the concept of affliction as both a physical and spiritual trial – a means through which the divine reshapes and refines the individual, akin to a potter’s transformative work as depicted in scriptural references. The arguments presented draw upon contemporaneous medical, philosophical, and theological discourses, including the humoral theory and the intersections of reason and faith, to contextualize the seventeenth century’s understanding of the human condition. Special attention is given to Donne and his contemporaries’ perceptions of the paradoxes of faith – embracing impossibility and uncertainty as essential to spiritual transformation and divine communion. The considerations of this paper are situated within the broader theological debates of the time, examining the implications of religious texts for understanding the collective and individual dimensions of suffering and salvation. The thesis concludes that affliction is an inseparable part of the human experience. The transformative power and redemptive potential of affliction is its ability to return the individual to the collective. Just as the body and soul are interconnected, so too are the individual and the collective. Affliction is not solely a personal burden but a shared means of divine grace. By framing individual trials within a collective framework, Donne affirms that personal transformation through suffering echoes the universal pursuit of divine reconciliation.
Recommended Citation
Al-hoseiny, Zeinab, "'Affliction is a treasure': Sickness and the Soul in Donne" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 9670.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/9670
