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Pleasure and the "bien souverain" in Gabrielle de Coignard's Oeuvres chrestiennes

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Title
Pleasure and the "bien souverain" in Gabrielle de Coignard's Oeuvres chrestiennes
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Kenney
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Susan Lord
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Susan Lord Kenney
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author
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Cornilliat
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François
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François Cornilliat
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chair
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Shaw
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Mary
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Mary Shaw
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Tamas
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Jennifer
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Jennifer Tamas
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Dauvois
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Nathalie
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Nathalie Dauvois
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Advisory Committee
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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School of Graduate Studies
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theses
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ETD doctoral
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2020
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2020-10
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2020
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English
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French
Abstract (type = abstract)
The main question we set out to answer in this dissertation is: can Gabrielle de Coignard’s outlook, as perceived through her Œuvres chrestiennes, be described as hedonistic and, if so, to what extent?

In Chapter I, we explore “hedonism” as a concept and philosophical tradition, as well as various conceptions of the nature and meaning of pleasure. Chapter II provides an overview of Coignard’s life as well as preliminary considerations on her ethical outlook and her sense of “calling” as a Christian poet. In Chapters III, IV, and V, a series of comparative readings assess Coignard’s conception of the sovereign good and the roles played by pleasure therein. By comparing the content and form of Coignard’s poetry – especially of Sonnet XXV, in which we find the sole occurrence of the expression “bien souverain” – with pieces written by some of her male and female contemporaries (some secular others religious), we come to appreciate specific ways in which Coignard assimilates and also rejects what her counterparts wrote on love, suffering, pleasure, and the highest good. In Chapter IV, we demonstrate how Coignard is more reticent than Anne de Marquets when making rhetorical use of the supreme “bien” and the pleasurable effects it is believed to contain. In Chapter V, a similar reticence is demonstrated with respect to Luis de Granada’s Vray chemin, from which Coignard borrows directly when writing De la gloire et felicité de la vie eternelle.

Our conclusion is not only that Coignard’s implied ethical system cannot be described as hedonistic, but that she actively fights this very possibility: she explicitly names God the “seul bien souverain,” isolates the concept in its own category, makes sure to prevent any reduction of it to pleasure, and upholds this same position throughout her œuvre. She seems acutely aware that poems purporting to describe celestial bliss might both reduce it to ordinary human pleasures and make those a goal to be coveted under the guise of beatitude. That is why, when she dedicates an entire poem to the topic of “félicité,” she does not give herself full expressive license to treat this subject.
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Topic
French literature
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French
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD
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School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore10001600001
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ETD_11270
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doi:10.7282/t3-fqgn-va46
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text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 431 pages)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Subject
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Coignard, Gabrielle de, -1586
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Name
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Kenney
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Susan
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Permission or license
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2020-10-01 05:10:56
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Susan Kenney
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Affiliation
Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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Copyright protected
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Open
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Permission or license
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2020-10-01T08:41:26
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2020-10-01T08:41:26
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