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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... terms, it interpreted as heterodox and, therefore, sinful all attempts at empowerment or knowledge outside what Christianity promoted as acceptable. Magic and magicians became associated with the Devil, as had witchcraft and witches ...
... terms as well in sacred scriptures out of antiquity and in the early years of the common era. This equating of the dragon-serpent with the Devil indicates the attempt to eradicate traces of Ophiolatreia by associating it with the evil ...
... terms of human psychology, attributing it to a sense of retributive justice: “But life is darkened by the fear of restitution for our misdeeds, a fear enormous in proportion to their enormity. . . . Even though these horrors are not ...
... the Lucerne Passion (Osterspils), a two-day event held in 1583 in the city's Weinmarkt.29 It can be understood better in terms of Renward Cysat's sketch of the setting, with its impressive Mouth of Hell in the southwest part.
... term infernus, which in Latin literally meant “an oven placed in the earth.” The Roman proverb “The oven is the Mother” can be associated with the Norse Hel, goddess of the underworld, who was thought of “as a cauldron-womb filled with.
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 | |