Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons^™

Renaissance Drama And Magic: Humanism And Hermeticism In Early Modern England, Caitlin A. Larracey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

With deals made with the devil, the promise of base metals turned into gold, and charms cast over beasts, humans, and spirits, magic has a profound role in the drama of Early Modern England. Even more than magic, be it black or white, the magus repeatedly takes center stage in front of Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences. There exists a fascination in the period with unnatural or supernatural powers, especially in light of the reputations of figures such as the physician-magicians John Dee and Simon Forman, and even King James I. Yet the magic and magician that emerge in principal plays …