Anatomizing the early‐modern eye: a literary case‐study

Abstract

This article discusses developments in early‐modern literary and scientific conceptions of vision, examining the effect that anatomical discoveries had upon aesthetic representations of the eye. Analysing both scientific and poetic texts, I illustrate features of the period's depictions of the visual member, before moving into an extended discussion of Phineas Fletcher's somatic epic, The Purple Island. Fletcher's text, heavily aestheticised and scientifically informed, provides an opportunity to display anatomical innovation impacting upon traditional poetic motifs of the eyebeam. Contributing to current debate concerning Renaissance science, this article engages with the increasing critical interest in the previously neglected work of Fletcher.