‘An Anxious Entangling and Perplexing of Consciences’: John Donne and Catholic recusant mendacity

Abstract

This article argues that, in Donne’s view, the taking of an oath should benefit society rather than reflect the true interiority of the subject, and that a crucial aspect of his defence of the Jacobean Oath of Allegiance in Pseudo-Martyr is the representation of mendacity as a Christian virtue. It further contends that critics who portray Donne’s support of the State as being at odds with his religious beliefs have misread the argument in Pseudo-Martyr, which indicates that the safest way to achieve salvation is not through the Church but through the State.