Printing Polemic: An Examination Of The Prose Polemic Of Andrew Marvell And His Relationship With His Readership

Printing Polemic aims to deepen critical understanding of Andrew Marvell's printed prose by fully re-politicising these works. These texts are polemic, the aim of publishing to incense and incite the reader, convincing them of the urgent need for reform. Critical attention has largely focused on The Rehearsal Transpros'd and An Account of the Growth of Popery; this thesis will correct this imbalance by interrogating his prose as an oeuvre, in order to reveal the anti-establishment themes prevalent across these works, which run the gamut from satire to secret history. Across these works, Marvell insists on the need for adequate political representation, freedom of conscience, and an end to institutional corruption - appealing to the public sphere his primary means of effecting change. This thesis centres the reader, reconstructing the cultural and political apparatus shaping the lives and attitudes of Marvell's Restoration audience. These texts are rich in allusion, and considering Marvell's prose in relation to contemporary literature and ephemera - from rhetorical manuals, polemical tracts, theatre, newspapers and even his own poetry - reveals the subtext available to an active reader. This thesis will also contribute to the field by analysing Marvell's relationship to means of political expression, namely petitions and political parties, to retrace the implicit means by which Marvell encourages political participation (whilst skirting accusations of sedition in an increasingly hostile political climate). Contextualising these pamphlets with the reader in mind reveals both the effectiveness of Marvell's rhetorical strategy and the depth of his subversion. The intricacy of his subtext is crucial to his polemical agenda - in Marvell's rhetoric, shaping active readers is a means of creating active citizens.