Times Purpled Masquers: Stars and the Afterlife in Renaissance English Literature ISBN-13: 9780198183402

ISBN-13: 9780198183402

Binding: Hardcover

Author: Fowler, Alastair

Release Date: 18-07-1996

Languages: english

Part Number: bibliography

Edition: 1

Number Of Pages: 184

Package Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches

Details: Review “…Fowler has served students of religion well. The transformations of social and symbolic systems during the period in question are multifaceted. Fowler has drawn attention to one more aspect of which students of religion may be unaware.”–Sixteenth Century Journal”…offers an elegant and striking examination of the old belief in an afterlife in the stars and a brief, rather tour de force survey of astronomical thinking in the Renaissance…”–Chronique Product Description Alastair Fowlers fascinating study explores the extraordinary prominence of astronomical imagery in Renaissance literature. He describes the forgotten Renaissance beliefs about stellification, an afterlife in the stars through metamorphosis into stellar or angelic substance. The new astronomy of Copernicus and Brahe, far from working against religious beliefs, encouraged hopes of access to the uncorrupted spheres. Fowlers many-faceted book scrutinizes these ideas–both sacred and scientific–as they manifested in literature, masques, architecture, and the pursuit of fame. From the Back Cover Alastair Fowlers 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. Fowlers many-faceted book traces these ideas in literature, masque, architecture, and the pursuit of fame. Times 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. About the Author Alastair Fowler is professor of English at the University of Virginia and Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh.