"A Dog's Revenge" Comparative Viability of an Early Modern Verbal, Pictorial, and Dramatic Proverb

Abstract

This article presents a comparative study of three media modalities by which the proverb “a dog’s revenge” is presented in the sixteenth and seventeenth century Latin, German, and English contexts. A proverb can be briefly defined as a short pithy saying in general use. However, when one moves beyond a linguistic interpretation to an analysis of the material, these concise sayings that many people know and use assume an instability similar to aphorisms, sententia, maxims, dicta, or other short forms. By comparing the materials of the short proverbial saying “A dog’s revenge” in Erasmus’ Adages (1532), Mathius Holzwart’s emblem book Emblematum Tyrocinia (1581), and William Shakespeare’s seventeenth century drama, Cymbeline (1611), this article emphasizes the viability of the proverb beyond speech acts. Whether oral, graphic, pictorial, dramatic, or some other medium, focus on a proverb’s materiality shows that the life of a proverb is woven into its citationality in various media and materials, not just speech. Unpacking the tension between the signified meaning of proverbial speech and its material form also reveals the potential inviability, or death of the proverb through alternate uses, forgetfulness, or disuse.