Renaissance Figures of Speech »

Sylvia Adamson is Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Sheffield and Chair of Renaissance Studies in the School of English.

A collection of essays, each tackling a Renaissance figure of speech in literature.

List of illustrations     ix
List of contributors     x
Preface     xiii
Note on spelling and references     xiv
Introduction: the figures in Renaissance theory and practice     1
Synonymia: or, in other words   Sylvia Adamson     17
Compar or parison: measure for measure   Russ McDonald     39
Periodos: squaring the circle   Janel Mueller     61
Puns: serious wordplay   Sophie Read     81
Prosopopoeia: the speaking figure   Gavin Alexander     97
Ekphrasis: painting in words   Claire Preston     115
Hysteron proteron: or the preposterous   Patricia Parker     133
Paradiastole: redescribing the vices as virtues   Quentin Skinner     149
Syncrisis: the figure of contestation   Ian Donaldson     167
Testimony: the artless proof   R. W. Serjeantson     181
Hyperbole: exceeding similitude   Katrin Ettenhuber     197
Metalepsis: the boundaries of metaphor   Brian Cummings     217
The vices of style   William Poole     237
Notes     252
Suggestions for further reading     291
Index     295