Abstract
In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, despair was a subject of fascination and horror. Retaining its theological meaning of despair of God’s mercy, the word had connotations of judgement and eternal punishment. In poetry, drama, religious treatises and tracts, the despairing were portrayed as terrified, distracted, suicidal, and their bodies as wasting. This type of literature was intended to grip the reader or audience, and inspire pious self-examination. It also reflected, and played upon, anxieties during this period related to the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination.
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