Abstract

This thesis proposes that in his efforts to produce iconography for the leaders of mid-seventeenth century England, Marvell foreshadows certain Gothic literary conventions usually associated with eighteenth century prose. Attention is given to similarities between the contemporary logic of casuistry--the means by which individuals adopted their personal beliefs to the demands of political necessity--and methods of forming national identity based upon gothicist historiography. Developments within the respresentational arts, and their influence upon political and religious perceptions are also explored in relation to Marvell's use of deformed visual imagery Two chapters trace the ambiguous combination of praise and blame found in both Marvell's panegyrics and his satires and juxtapose the resulting ambivalence with the poet's interest in the interconnectedness of political and aesthetic issues. Special attention to Marvell's grotesque imagery, his use of emblems, and their correlation to the poet's anonymous style links the two chapters. At the end of each chapter a suggestion is made regarding the influence of Marvell's "Gothic" iconography upon his modern conception of literary history.