Time's purpled masquers : stars and the afterlife in Renaissance English literature /
Alastair Fowler's fascinating study describes forgotten Renaissance beliefs about stellification (an afterlife in the stars through transformation into stellar or angelic substance after death), and explores the extraordinary prominence of astronomical imagery in Renaissance literature. The new...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | English. |
| Published: |
New York :
Clarendon Press,
1996.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Alastair Fowler's fascinating study describes forgotten Renaissance beliefs about stellification (an afterlife in the stars through transformation into stellar or angelic substance after death), and explores the extraordinary prominence of astronomical imagery in Renaissance literature. The new astronomy of Copernicus and Brahe, far from working against religious beliefs, encouraged hopes of access to the uncorrupted spheres. Seventeenth-century Christians of various persuasions believed in a stellar afterlife. Fowler's many-faceted book traces these ideas in literature, masque, architecture, and the pursuit of fame. Time's Purpled Masquers first characterizes the Renaissance as a period of reform and of theological focus on nature, rather than of desacralization. It goes on to show how astronomical discoveries led to new hopes of access to the uncorrupted translunary spheres. Alastair Fowler then examines evidence for a widespread belief in stellification. Further chapters relate this belief to the long-standing association of posthumous fame with the stars, and survey traces of the hope of stellification in various cultural forms. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (171 pages) |
| Format: | Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-163) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9786610765379 6610765375 9780191674037 0191674036 1280765372 9781280765377 |