“The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito

“The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito

The metaphor of the theatre as plague was one of the most effective tools for antitheatrical discourse in early modern Europe. Whereas much research has been conducted with regard to the content of this analogy (both the theatre and the plague lead the social body to physical and ethical consumption...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alessandro Melis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2020-12-01
Series:LEA : Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente
Subjects:
antitheatrical prejudice
illness as metaphor
plague
puritan propaganda
Thomas White
Online Access:https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-lea/article/view/10986
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spelling doaj-c227ab00ed1b4e28b7f92052e7c339302021-02-03T09:02:22ZengFirenze University PressLEA : Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente1824-484X2020-12-018810.13128/lea-1824-484x-10986“The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibitoAlessandro Melis0Università degli Studi di FirenzeThe metaphor of the theatre as plague was one of the most effective tools for antitheatrical discourse in early modern Europe. Whereas much research has been conducted with regard to the content of this analogy (both the theatre and the plague lead the social body to physical and ethical consumption), this essay aims at investigating the structural similarity between spectacle and epidemic as alluded to by the enemies of the theatre: it is an analogy mainly based on the ability of both to establish a “competing reality” in the world. This assumption is tested by the close-reading of an antitheatrical sermon (preached in London in 1577 by Thomas White), in which a pestilent theatre emerges as the cause of an ontological rather than ethical scourge. https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-lea/article/view/10986antitheatrical prejudiceillness as metaphorplaguepuritan propagandaThomas White
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Alessandro Melis
spellingShingle Alessandro Melis
“The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
LEA : Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente
antitheatrical prejudice
illness as metaphor
plague
puritan propaganda
Thomas White
author_facet Alessandro Melis
author_sort Alessandro Melis
title “The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
title_short “The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
title_full “The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
title_fullStr “The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
title_full_unstemmed “The cause of plagues are playes”. La peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
title_sort “the cause of plagues are playes”. la peste, il teatro e l’altrove proibito
publisher Firenze University Press
series LEA : Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente
issn 1824-484X
publishDate 2020-12-01
description The metaphor of the theatre as plague was one of the most effective tools for antitheatrical discourse in early modern Europe. Whereas much research has been conducted with regard to the content of this analogy (both the theatre and the plague lead the social body to physical and ethical consumption), this essay aims at investigating the structural similarity between spectacle and epidemic as alluded to by the enemies of the theatre: it is an analogy mainly based on the ability of both to establish a “competing reality” in the world. This assumption is tested by the close-reading of an antitheatrical sermon (preached in London in 1577 by Thomas White), in which a pestilent theatre emerges as the cause of an ontological rather than ethical scourge.
topic antitheatrical prejudice
illness as metaphor
plague
puritan propaganda
Thomas White
url https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-lea/article/view/10986
work_keys_str_mv AT alessandromelis thecauseofplaguesareplayeslapesteilteatroelaltroveproibito
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