Date of Award
4-16-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
English, MA
First Advisor
Jerry Ball
Committee Members
Jason Barrett-Fox; Robert Schichler
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2015 M35
Abstract
The histories of anatomy and rhetoric are integrally united and date back to the foci upon both by the ancients in Greece and Rome. Though anatomy and rhetoric may seem like they are two different worlds, the same concepts and themes run concurrently throughout the two studies. Rhetors use language to persuade others of what is true while anatomists use bodies to reveal man's truth. Thus, anatomy is nonverbal rhetoric -- communication and knowledge transferred by the body, not by language. The historical accounts of the matron Lucrece and the Roman general Caesar as told by Titus Livy and Plutarch juxtaposed with Renaissance medical texts reveal ways in which anatomy, medicine, and history influenced popular written works by William Shakespeare. A better understanding of anatomical themes within Shakespeare's works will allow audiences a fuller appreciation for the poet, the humanists, the study of anatomy and its concurrent evolution with rhetoric, and the English Renaissance.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Malland, Leslie Renee, "Rhetoric of the Body: Renaissance Cadaveric Studies and Their Influence in Shakespeare" (2015). Student Theses and Dissertations. 707.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/707
