Wiseman, Jake; (2024) The Book of Daniel in Early Modern English Literary Culture. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis concerns the Book of Daniel in early modern English literary culture. Through close attention to a series of narratives from the Book of Daniel, it reassesses the relationship between biblical texts and vernacular literary culture in the period from the Reformation to the English Civil War. The thesis recovers networks of biblical material, spanning a range of genres in written, oral, and visual forms. It argues that the generative plurality of scripture is integral to understanding the ways that early modern readers and writers engaged with the Book of Daniel. By tracing the narratives in the Book of Daniel, the thesis finds permeable boundaries between literary culture, religious doctrine, and biblical texts. Each chapter is an essay into areas where biblical narratives align with the concerns of religious history and literary studies. The first chapter begins with Daniel’s primary vocation: as a prophet. It argues that Daniel’s prophetic skill did not only involve future-telling visions, but also the revelation of textual meaning. Chapter 2 asks how writers used the fiery furnace and the lions’ den narratives to express shifting attitudes towards providence after the Reformation. The third chapter turns to the narrative of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride, fall, and restitution in Daniel 4. It explores the Babylonian king as a biblical exemplar used from the pulpit, page, and stage. Chapter 4 concerns Susanna and the Elders, which vernacular poets used to explore themes of sexual predation, false testimony, and fiction at the intersection of religious, legal, and literary cultures. The final chapter examines the prophecies of the four kingdoms in Daniel 2 and 7, where literary texts demonstrate the destabilising impact of sixteenth-century historiographic debates. In closing, the thesis attends to later uses of the Book of Daniel to reflect upon the entanglements between literary culture and biblical narrative.

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