Theresa M DiPasquale Books

The study explores how John Donne, Aemilia Lanyer, and John Milton each engage with and transform the Judeo-Christian tradition of the sacred feminine in their poetry. Central figures such as divine Wisdom and the Blessed Virgin Mary play crucial roles in their works. The poets emphasize a gendered relationship between God and humanity, portraying God as father and bridegroom, while depicting the human soul and the church as daughter and bride. This analysis reveals their deep investment in scriptural themes and the reimagining of feminine divinity.

In this innovative study, Theresa DiPasquale examines John Donne's theological and ideological responses to the Reformation debate over the sacraments, and how this debate greatly influenced his view of the written word as visible sign and of the poet as the quasi-divine maker of that sign, and of the reader as its receiver. This study, then, attempts to reconstruct Donne's own, quite nuanced theology of sacrament to provide a guide to his poetics, and, in particular, to his conception of the exchange between author and reader."