Lyly's proverb lore.

Previous to this investigation, 861 individual proverbs and proverbial phrases had been established in the works of John Lyly. Of this number, 643 proverbs are found in Tilley's Elizabethan Proverb Lore, 212 additional proverbs in Tilley's Proverbs in England, and 6 additional proverbs in Stevenson's Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases. This study adds 69 new proverbs and proverbial phrases to the 861 previously authenticated, making a total of 930 different proverbs and proverbial phrases adduced from Lyly's works to date. There are 110 instances of proverbs having multiple usages: 67 have two; 35 have three; 5 have four; 2 have five; and 1 has six. Of these proverbs with multiple usages, 50 new parallels have been noted for the first time by the present investigator. Lyly is one of the earliest Renaissance writers to make extensive use of proverbs. He introduces foreign proverbs, sifts proverbs from the common English reservoir, and improvises upon proverbs to lend authority, wit, and eloquence to his art. This sententious element is an integral part of Lyly's euphuistic style. He quotes proverbs, adapts them, alludes to them, reverses their meaning, and presents them in a remarkable variety of ways. It may be of significance that more than a third of Lyly's proverbs, some 342, have parallels in the works of Shakespeare.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1966

Author dc:creator

• Butler, Gary M., 1941-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Smith, Charles G. (Professor)

• Lyly, John, 1554?-1606.
• Proverbs in literature.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14449

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14449