Stages of Evil: Occultism in Western Theater and DramaUniversity Press of Kentucky, 2005 M12 23 - 344 pages "The evil that men do" has been chronicled for thousands of years on the European stage, and perhaps nowhere else is human fear of our own evil more detailed than in its personifications in theater. Early writers used theater to communicate human experiences and to display reverence for the gods governing daily life. Playwrights from Euripides onward sought inspiration from this interplay between the worldly and the occult, using human belief in the divine to govern characters' actions within a dramatic arena. The constant adherence to the supernatural, despite changing religious ideologies over the centuries, testifies to a deep and continuing belief in the ability of a higher power to interfere in human life. Stages of Evil is the first book to examine the representation and relationship of evil and the occult from the prehistoric origins of drama through to the present day. Drawing on examples of magic, astronomy, demonology, possession, exorcism, fairies, vampires, witchcraft, hauntings, and voodoo, author Robert Lima explores how theater shaped American and European perceptions of the occult and how the dramatic works studied here reflect society back upon itself at different points in history. From representations of Dionysian rites in ancient Greece, to the Mouth of Hell in the Middle Ages, to the mystical cabalistic life of the Hasidic Jews, to the witchcraft and magic of the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage, Lima traces the recurrence of supernatural motifs in pivotal plays and performance works of the Western tradition. Considering numerous myths and cultural artifacts, such as the "wild man," he describes the evolution and continual representation of supernatural archetypes on the modern stage. He also discusses the sociohistorical implications of Christian and pagan representations of evil and the theatrical creativity that occultism has engendered. Delving into his own theatrical, literary, folkloric, and travel experiences to enhance his observations, Lima assays the complex world of occultism and examines diverse works of Western theater and drama. A unique and comprehensive bibliography of European and American plays concludes the study and facilitates further research into the realm of the social and literary impact of the occult. |
From inside the book
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... means. But Celestina's “power” derives from a different source. On the basis of the internal evidence of words and rites, Celestina is here revealed as a practitioner of magic, the object of her incantations being the pagan Pluto, not ...
... means in an appropriate venue, while the latter was awed by the chthonic setting and the magical occurrences within and without its confines. However, as the church became increasingly more powerful, both in spiritual and in political ...
... means “The Concealer”), was symbolized as a cauldron, a metaphor for the womb, both as life-giving and as purgative. In Nifleheim, the goddess presides over a realm distinguished by ice, cold, and darkness, as appropriate to the harsh ...
... means to attain knowledge and, thus, be like God, the serpent was perceived by Ophites and Gnostics to be as much the benefactor of mankind through its progenitors in the Old Testament as was Prometheus by the ancient Greeks for his ...
... means of ingress: the pit; the cave; and the gate or portal. All four have extensive iconographies, sometimes related, as at the Abbey of Conques-en-Rouergue, where both the monster's maw and the gate of hell appear on the same relief ...
Contents
Touchstone of Celestinas Magic | |
Possession and Exorcism | |
Voodoo Terror in Eugene ONeills | |
Sex as Grimoire in Arthur Millers The Crucible | |
The Politics of Demonic Hysteria in John | |
Malign Decadence in Francisco Nievas | |
Cauldron and Cave | |
Chthonic Sanctuaries in Early | |
Bibliography of European and American Drama of | |
Index | |