A Discourse of Life and Death, by Mornay, and Antonius by Garnier

Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 15Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8
Word count
157K words
Chapters
16

Tags

English Originals Dramatic LiteratureWestern Philosophy Humanistic CarePhilosophical DialogueSlow ReadingMortalityWestern ThoughtMoral DilemmaClassical TranslationReligious DramaRenaissance

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Discourse of Life and Death, by Mornay; and Antonius by Garnier by Garnier et al.Author: Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jun 10, 2007

Editor's review

This volume brings together works by two French Renaissance authors: Mornay's A Discourse of Life and Death, a religious-philosophical meditation on the transience of earthly life and the eternal destination, and Garnier's Antonius, a drama that stages the fateful choices of a classical historical figure. Placed side by side, the two form a complementarity of treatise and narrative, speculation and image: readers move from abstract argument into concrete situation, then look back at the question of life and death through the characters' predicaments. As a free electronic text from Project Gutenberg, its value lies in giving Chinese readers low-threshold access to early modern French literature and thought in English translation, making it especially suitable for extended reading by those interested in the theme of death, Renaissance drama, and the history of ideas in the Reformation era. Readers should keep the period context and rhetorical conventions in mind and need not judge its argumentative structure by the standards of modern academic writing.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read A Discourse of Life and Death first to grasp the core arguments, then read Antonius to see how the same theme is dramatized.
  2. Jot down as you read the differences between the two genres in death imagery and character motivation, to facilitate comparison.
  3. When encountering classical allusions or religious terminology, skip over them first and return to the context after finishing the whole piece.
  4. If time is limited, read the drama section first, then go back to the key passages of the treatise.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16

FAQ

Which two works does this book contain? The combined edition includes Mornay's A Discourse of Life and Death and Garnier's Antonius. The former is primarily a religious-philosophical treatise, the latter a dramatic work; the two form a contrast around the themes of life and death and fate.
Can I read it without any French? Yes. This edition is an English text; readers need only basic English reading ability. Classical allusions and religious terminology may pose obstacles; use annotations or read the drama section first to lower the difficulty.
Is it suitable as an introductory reading on the theme of death? It can serve as supplementary reading from a historical perspective, rather than an introduction to modern death education. It presents Renaissance conceptions and rhetoric, and is best read alongside introductory works.

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About the author

Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 15 Author · French · 1549–1623

Philippe de Mornay (Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549–1623) was a French Huguenot leader and political writer. Living through the turmoil of the Wars of Religion, he devoted both his pen and his actions to the Huguenot cause. His works combine apologetic and political concerns, and his best-known treatise, On the Truth of the Christian Religion, is an important defense of the faith. The one work held in this collection, A Discourse of Life and Death, by Mornay and Antonius by Garnier, shows that his writing also addressed philosophical themes of life and death, in a solemn and argumentative style. Public information on his early education, offices, and specific career is limited, so no details are given here; overall, his apologetic and political writings had some influence in the religious controversies of his time.