Holy Ambition: Rhetoric, Courtship, and Devotion in the Sermons of John Donne

This study examines the rich resource for rhetorical invention that Donne found in the contemporary culture of courtship. The first half of the book employs the theories of Kenneth Burke in tandem with ancient and early-modern rhetorical theory to examine Elizabethan and Jacobean expressions of social desire (sexual, political, economic, etc.). It demonstrates how Donne employed these modes of courtship to stimulate and direct his audience's thought and desire with respect to matters of religious devotion. The second half of the book applies this socio-rhetorical paradigm of courtship in close readings of three Donne sermons. This study will be of interest to scholars and students of early-modern literature and rhetoric and to those interested in homiletics and devotional literature.