Reforming the Tudor dialogue: A case study (Thomas Becon, Erasmus)

This case study assesses the implications of rhetorical style in dialogues by Thomas Becon and his contemporary, Desiderius Erasmus. Becon imitated an Erasmian theme but rejected Erasmus' classically oriented rhetoric and the epistemology it advanced. Instead, he used the dialogue form as a vehicle for what is primarily an oral (homiletic) exhortation, which reveals a prof oundly different approach to the pursuit of truth and illustrates the widen ing cultural gap between moderate and radical religious reformers.