The Masons and the Mysteries in 18th Century Drama

The Masons and the Mysteries in 18th Century Drama PDF Author: Matthew Leigh
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311067629X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
The fathers of modern freemasonry sought a classical pedigree for their rituals and forms of association. This volume offers the first academic study of how freemasons writing in the first half of the 18th century deployed their knowledge of antiquity to bolster this claim and how the creative literature of the period reflected their ideas. The scholarly investigation of freemasonry is a relatively new phenomenon. The writings of active freemasons tend either to generate new masonic myths or to focus on the minutiae of insignia, rank, and ritual. Only in the last 50 years have non-masons given serious thought to freemasonry as a social practice and to its place within the intellectual and political life of Enlightenment Europe and beyond. Study of masonic elements in literary texts lags much further behind. This volume offers the first English translations of three mid-18th century comedies on female curiosity about this exclusively male order and shows how they reflect contemporary attempts to forge a link with ancient mystery cult. The theatrical aspect of masonic ritual and the ancient mysteries is examined in depth. This volume opens up important new ground in classical reception and 18th century theatre history.

The Masons and the Mysteries in 18th Century Drama

The Masons and the Mysteries in 18th Century Drama PDF Author: Matthew Leigh
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311067629X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
The fathers of modern freemasonry sought a classical pedigree for their rituals and forms of association. This volume offers the first academic study of how freemasons writing in the first half of the 18th century deployed their knowledge of antiquity to bolster this claim and how the creative literature of the period reflected their ideas. The scholarly investigation of freemasonry is a relatively new phenomenon. The writings of active freemasons tend either to generate new masonic myths or to focus on the minutiae of insignia, rank, and ritual. Only in the last 50 years have non-masons given serious thought to freemasonry as a social practice and to its place within the intellectual and political life of Enlightenment Europe and beyond. Study of masonic elements in literary texts lags much further behind. This volume offers the first English translations of three mid-18th century comedies on female curiosity about this exclusively male order and shows how they reflect contemporary attempts to forge a link with ancient mystery cult. The theatrical aspect of masonic ritual and the ancient mysteries is examined in depth. This volume opens up important new ground in classical reception and 18th century theatre history.

Eleusis and Enlightenment

Eleusis and Enlightenment PDF Author: Ferdinand Saumarez Smith
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004692304
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
The age of Enlightenment – the so-called age of reason – was also, paradoxically, the age of the Eleusinian mysteries. By attempting to reveal Demeter's secret cult, British, French, and German thinkers and freemasons of the eighteenth century revealed more than they bargained for: the pagan origins of Christian doctrines such as the Trinity and the afterlife, and through the mythical gift of law and agriculture to Eleusis an alternative narrative of the origins of civilisation to that found in the Bible.

The York Mystery Plays

The York Mystery Plays PDF Author: Margaret Rogerson
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN: 1903153352
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Essays on the York Mystery Plays, uniting voices from the scholarly world with the York community that has assumed responsibility for their production today. The York Play of Corpus Christi, also known as the York Cycle, has been central to the study of early English theatre for over a century and a touchstone for the revival of medieval dramatic practice for over fifty years. But these two endeavours... have often found little common ground. This volume therefore accomplishes something very important. It brings together scholars of medieval English drama and places them in dialogue with experienced practtitioners from the community. Together, they share a common commitment to understanding how performances matter to the communities that produce them, and how plays intersect with other public activities. CAROL SYMES, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana. This volume provides a wealth of new insights into the performance of mystery plays in medieval York and their modern revival. It utilises both academic study, and the practical experience of those who now produce the cycle within York itself on wagons in the street, in an approximation of their original performance. A number of topics are covered. The manuscript is linked to Richard III; the Masons are introduced as non-guildsmen in an enterprise assumed to be guild-specific; families, not just male heads of households, are shown to be important to the dramatic narrative; and cognitive theory elucidates performance past and present.Recent productions are discussed in lively detail by those directly responsible for them, leading to analyses of performances in Israel, Spain, and Australia, not all of them of a predictable kind, which offer further angles on the medieval dramatic tradition. Professor Margaret Rogerson teaches in the Department of English at the University of Sydney. Contributors: Margaret Rogerson, Keith Jones, Richard Beadle, Sheila K. Christie,Mike Tyler, Jill Stevenson, Elenid Davies, Ben Pugh, Peter Brown, Tony Wright, Steve Bielby, Emma Cunningham, Alan Heaven, Linda Ali, Paul Toy, Gweno Williams, John Merrylees, David Richmond, Alexandra F. Johnston, Sharon Aronson-Lehavi, Pamela M. King

British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books

British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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The Builder

The Builder PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Freemasonry
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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The Freemason's Chronicle

The Freemason's Chronicle PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Nineteenth Century Short-title Catalogue: phase 1. 1816-1870

Nineteenth Century Short-title Catalogue: phase 1. 1816-1870 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Books
Languages : en
Pages : 778

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A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles

A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles PDF Author: James Augustus Henry Murray
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 1126

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Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series

Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series PDF Author: Library of Congress. Copyright Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 604

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Catalogue of Copyright Entries

Catalogue of Copyright Entries PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 1012

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