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Article: The Rhetoric of Politics in the English Revolution: 1642-1660.
- Article from:
- Renaissance Quarterly
- Article date:
- September 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 The Renaissance Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Elizabeth Skerpan's The Rhetoric of Politics in the English Revolution is a courageous attempt to discuss political discourse of the seventeenth century in its own terms. She uses rhetorical theory to analyze three crises of the English Revolution - taking sides in 1642, regicide in 1649, the restoration in 1660. All educated Englishmen, she claims, had studied rhetoric (5-7). This approach restricts her choice of political thinkers. Cromwell is mentioned but not Ireton nor any other participant in the Putney Debates. Fast Sermons to Parliament are not discussed. Vane is, not Dell. Lilburne, Walwyn and Overton are mentioned but not discussed. Nayler receives passing ...