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The Hermetic Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository English Language and Literature ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 6-24-2010 The aP th to Personal Salvation: The eH rmetic Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton Cassandra Amundson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds Recommended Citation Amundson, Cassandra. "The aP th to Personal Salvation: The eH rmetic Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton." (2010). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/7 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Language and Literature ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PATH TO PERSONAL SALVATION: THE HERMETIC TROPE OF SELF-MASTERY IN SHAKESEPARE, BACON, AND MILTON BY CASSANDRA CHERIE AMUNDSON B.A., ENGLISH, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, 2000 M.A., ENGLISH, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, 2003 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy English The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2010 ii DEDICATION In memory of my mother, Dorothy Anne Wilcox, who passed away before she could see me accomplish a major step in the journey of my life. And to my father, Dr. Wesley E. Amundson, who has always been an unwavering supporter of my ideas and vision. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Barry Gaines, a recognized Shakespearean scholar, for always believing in me and giving untiring support and encouragement to help me complete my project. And I express gratitude to Dr. Marissa Greenberg, an expert in Renaissance drama, for her prompt replies and her insightful and valuable recommendations. Thanks to Dr. Michelle Kells who assisted me in my professional development and helped me formulate the rhetorical setting for my project. And finally, thanks to Dr. Mary Domski for contributing her discipline-specific philosophical perspective. I express immense gratitude to my father, Dr. Wesley E. Amundson, whose wisdom and the investment of his time facilitated the depth and far-reaching aims of this dissertation. I thank my entire family, my stepmother, Pamla L. Geschwind, and my sisters Tamara, Jennifer, and Sasha, who never doubted my ability to complete such a challenging task. And finally, I thank my husband, Dennis Michael, and my daughters, Brianna and Astra, whose love propelled the timely completion of this project in an effort to begin the new chapter of our lives together. iv THE PATH TO PERSONAL SALVATION: THE HERMETIC TROPE OF SELF-MASTERY IN SHAKESPEARE, BACON, AND MILTON BY CASSANDRA CHERIE AMUNDSON ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy English The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2010 v The Path to Personal Salvation: The Hermetic Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton By Cassandra Cherie Amundson B.A., English, Eastern Michigan University, Spring 2000 M.A., English, Eastern Michigan University, Spring 2003 PhD, English, University of New Mexico, Spring 2010 ABSTRACT My dissertation examines Renaissance authors’ investment in the Hermetic tradition. This tradition is based on the Hellenistic Egyptian philosophical-theological writings ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, which emerged in parallel with early Christianity, Neoplatonism, and Gnosticism. The Hermetic tradition gained importance in the Renaissance with Marsilio Ficino’s translations and soon became an alternative avenue for the exploration in the spiritual conception of the “self” as divine, a conception previously closed off by medieval orthodox religious and secular traditions. I argue that principal figures in the Renaissance and Restoration—Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton— were engaged in constructing this Hermetic mode of thinking to illustrate individuals’ ability and responsibility for “saving” themselves through the gnosis of self-discovery, the gnosis that emphasized living with and in the presence of God. The Hermetic discourse is well documented in the history discipline by such scholars as Lynn Thorndike, Frances Yates, and D. P. Walker. Yet, in the literary discipline, there have not been sufficient discussions for locating the influence of the Hermetism on Renaissance and Restoration literary authors. In this way, I fill the gap in Renaissance scholarship and classroom teaching by showing that these authors used rhetorical maneuvers and symbols to illustrate the Hermetic mode of thinking as a major defining feature in their arguments for a new epistemology. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1 Using Trope as a Way to Understand the Process for Obtaining Salvation ....................4 Corporeality as a Vehicle for a Divine Education: Revising the Reason for the Fall .....6 Defining "Son of God" and the "Word of God" ..............................................................9 God Within versus Outside of Nature ............................................................................11 The Hermetic Tradition in Scholarship ..........................................................................13 A History of the Hermetic Tradition: From the Ancient World to the Early Modern .. 14 Authors' Endorsements of the Hermetic Mode of Thinking Before Casaubon .............22 Authors' Endorsements after Casaubon’s Dating of the Hermetic Texts ......................24 Contemporary Dating of the Hermetic Texts .................................................................26 The Philosophical-Theological Tenets of Hermetism: Becoming a Son of God ...........27 External and Internal Gnosis ..........................................................................................31 Hermetism in the Restoration ........................................................................................32 Theoretical Agenda for Analysis ...................................................................................35 The Late 16th and Early 17th Centuries and the Hermetic Mentality: Drama ............36 The Mid 17th Century and the Hermetic Mentality: Fiction .....................................37 The Late 17th Century and the Hermetic Mentality: Poetry ..................................... 38 Naming Hermes in their Texts .......................................................................................40 A Note on the Use of Texts ............................................................................................43 The Meaning of "Hermetic" ...........................................................................................46 The Hermetic Texts Classified as Philosophical-Theological .......................................48 Abbreviations of Texts ...................................................................................................49 Addendum ......................................................................................................................50 vii CHAPTER 2 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S KING LEAR ........................................51 Setting the Stage with an Alchemical Purpose ..............................................................64 The Hermetic Bearings on Renaissance Alchemical Tracts ..........................................65 Transformation in Meaning for the Symbol of the Wheel .............................................71 The First Constituent of the Hermetic Philosophy: Alchemy ........................................76 The Second Constituent of the Hermetic Philosophy: Astrology ................................. 87 The Third Constituent of the Hermetic Philosophy: Theurgy .......................................94 Conclusion: The Play as a Symbolic Looking-Glass ...................................................108 CHAPTER 3 FRANCIS BACON'S NEW ATLANTIS ...............................................113 Bacon's Thought in Context .........................................................................................117 From Anticipation of Mind to Interpretation of Nature: Defining "Sound Reason" ...122 Bacon and Past and Contemporary Epistemology ..................................................122 Toward the Perfection of Mankind's Divine Nature: Defining "True Religion" .........133 A Hermetic Reformation of Secular and Religious Ideals ......................................135 Conclusion: Fiction as Candlelight of Truth ................................................................163 CHAPTER 4 JOHN MILTON'S PARADISE LOST ..................................................167 Mankind's Power of Choice and the Notion of Felix Culpa ........................................171 A System of Earthly Education: By Steps We May Ascend .......................................178 Turning Away from God: Satan as Model of What it Means to Sin ...........................185 Metonymy as Pedagogical Tool ...................................................................................189 Becoming a Son or Daughter of God: Listening to the "God Within" ........................195 Learning from the Re-presentation of Adam and Eve's Fall .......................................205 Temptation as a System of Education ..........................................................................210 Modeling How to Achieve Rebirth:
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