The term 'rhetoric' describes the effective use of language, usually to persuade or influence. Frequently set up in opposition to 'truth' or 'plain speech', it has attracted critical debate from Ancient philosophy to literary theory. This book examines both the practice and theory of this controversial concept. Offers an account of the term - rhetoric. This book explores: historical and contemporary definitions of the term 'rhetoric' uses of rhetoric in literature, by authors such as William Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, W.B.Yeats and James Joyce; and the rebirth of rhetoric in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Series Editor's Preface viii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: what is rhetoric? 1(18) The classical art 19(45) Beginnings 19(2) Plato's attack 21(11) Aristotle's Rhetoric 32(9) The Roman art 41(12) Cicero: rejecting theory 53(11) Rhetoric renewed 64(50) Renaissance to enlightenment 65(19) Literature and rhetoric 84(18) `Rhetorical didactics': post-enlightenment 102(12) From rhetoric to rhetoricality 114(62) I.A. Richards: the art renewed 116(5) The death of rhetoric 121(8) Post-structuralist rhetoric 129(27) Rhetoric extended 156(20) Conclusion 176(4) Glossary of Rhetorical Terms 180(6) Bibliography 186(8) Index 194