Overview

For all their pride in seeing this world clearly, the thinkers and artists of the English Renaissance were also fascinated by magic and the occult. The three greatest playwrights of the period devoted major plays (The Tempest, Doctor Faustus, The Alchemist) to magic, Francis Bacon often referred to it, and it was ever-present in the visual arts. In Renaissance Magic and the Return of the Golden Age John S. Mebane reevaluates the significance of occult philosophy in Renaissance thought and literature, constructing the most detailed historical context for his subject yet attempted.

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Reviews

An excellent discussion of the crosscurrents of Renaissance philosophies of the occult and their impact upon Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. [Mebane's] review of Hermetic, cabalistic, and Neoplatonic theories will guide new students; his review of pertinent scholarship, especially that of Frances Yates, will aid the scholar. -Choice * Choice * John Mebane examines the many component parts of Renaissance occultism . . . [and] offers an inclusive, deeply researched overview of the subject. -London Review of Books * London Review of Books *

An excellent discussion of the crosscurrents of Renaissance philosophies of the occult and their impact upon Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. [Mebane's] review of Hermetic, cabalistic, and Neoplatonic theories will guide new students; his review of pertinent scholarship, especially that of Frances Yates, will aid the scholar. - Choice

Author Information

John S. Mebane, an associate professor of English at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is the author of articles and essays in South Atlantic Review, Renaissance Papers, and Renaissance Drama.

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