Divine Face in Four Writers

Description:

"An important contribution to studies in literature and religion, The Divine Face in Four Writers traces the influence of Christian and Classical prototypes in ideas and depictions of the divine face, and the centrality of facial expressions in characterization, in the works of William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Herman Hesse, and C.S. Lewis. Maurice Hunt explores both the human yearning to see the divine face from post-Apostolic time to the 20th century, as reflected in religion, myth, and literature by writers such as Augustine, Shakespeare, Hardy and Dostoyevsky, as well as the significance of the hidden divine face in writings by Spenser, Milton, Hesse, and Lewis. A final coda briefly detailing Emmanuel Levinas's system of ethics, based on the human face and its encounters with other faces, allows Hunt to focus on specific moments in the writings of the four major writers discussed that have particular ethical value."--Bloomsbury Publishing. "A comparative study that explores the influence of Christian and Classical ideas about the divine face in the writing of four major writers in Western literature"--Bloomsbury Publishing.

subjects: Shakespeare, william, 1564-1616, criticism and interpretation,  Dostoyevsky, fyodor, 1821-1881,  Hesse, hermann, 1877-1962,  Lewis, c. s. (clive staples), 1898-1963,  Fiction, history and criticism,  English drama, history and criticism,  Face of God in literature,  European fiction,  History and criticism,  English drama,  Criticism and interpretation,  LITERARY CRITICISM / General,  LITERARY CRITICISM / Semiotics & Theory