Andrew Marvell's ambivalence about justice

Art Naoise Kavanagh

(2012)

Art Naoise Kavanagh (2012) Andrew Marvell's ambivalence about justice.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the treatment of the theme of justice in the works, both poetry and prose, of Andrew Marvell and, in a final chapter, the justice of certain aspects of his behaviour. In order to do this, it seeks to locate particular works in the context of contemporary debates or discussions as to ancient rights, the ancient constitution (and competing theories as to the king’s power) and the disagreement between Hugo Grotius and John Selden on the subject of the legal status of the sea and, more generally, the laws of nature and nations. !e discussion of the justice of his behaviour offers a reinterpretation of the Chancery pleadings and other records in a cluster of cases arising after Marvell’s death out of the collapse of a bank in which his friend, Edward Nelthorpe, was a partner. It is argued that these records have, up to now, been misunderstood. The thesis concludes that Marvell’s work evinces an ambiguity about justice, with the poetry tending to give voice to his scepticism, while the sense that justice might be at least partly achievable is more likely to appear in the prose works. The conclusion as to his actions is also a matter of some ambivalence: while the evidence does not show that he colluded in a fraud on the bank’s creditors, the suspicion that he behaved badly towards his wife is complicated by a lingering uncertainty that he had, in fact, married.

Information about this Version

This is a Accepted version
This version's date is: 2012
This item is not peer reviewed

Link to this Version

https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/25031702-dea3-49c6-a9e6-c068852e5df4/1/

Item TypeThesis (Doctoral)
TitleAndrew Marvell's ambivalence about justice
AuthorsKavanagh, Art Naoise
Uncontrolled KeywordsAndrew Marvell; justice; equity; Chancery; Grotius; Seldon; constitutionalism; ancient rights
DepartmentsFaculty of Arts\English

Deposited by Leanne Workman (UXYL007) on 06-Feb-2015 in Royal Holloway Research Online.Last modified on 05-Feb-2017

Notes

©2012 Art Kavanagh. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit including © notice, is given to the source.


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