Abstract
This essay surveys scholarly treatments of the imitatio Christi theme in the printed literature of the English Reformation up to about 1640 and makes a case for the relevance of contemporary religious and devotional writing on this topic to the study of early modern English literature. While imitation has long been recognized by literary critics as a central feature of early modern English pedagogy and poetics, the devotional practice of imitating Christ’s life and Passion has been historically regarded as a minor element in English Protestant piety. However, recent trends in the study of early modern English literature and the historiography of the English Reformation suggest that it is time to reconsider the role of the imitatio Christi not only within English Protestant devotional culture, but within the broader culture of literary imitation as well.
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