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Majesty and Magic in Shakespeare's Last Plays
Dame Frances Amelia Yates (28 November 1899 - 29 September 1981) was a noted British historian. She taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years.
140 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 1978
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About the author
Frances A. Yates
39 books203 followersDame Frances Amelia Yates DBE FBA was an English historian who focused on the study of the Renaissance. In an academic capacity, she taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years, and also wrote a number of seminal books on the subject of esoteric history.
Yates was born to a middle-class family in Portsmouth, and was largely self-educated, before attaining a BA and MA in French at the University College, London. She began to publish her research in scholarly journals and academic books, focusing on 16th century theatre and the life of John Florio. In 1941, she was employed by the Warburg Institute, and began to work on what she termed "Warburgian history", emphasising a pan-European and inter-disciplinary approach to historiography.
In 1964 she published Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, an examination of Bruno, which came to be seen as her most significant publication. In this book, she emphasised the role of Hermeticism in Bruno's works, and the role that magic and mysticism played in Renaissance thinking. She wrote extensively on the occult or Neoplatonic philosophies of the Renaissance.
Yates was born to a middle-class family in Portsmouth, and was largely self-educated, before attaining a BA and MA in French at the University College, London. She began to publish her research in scholarly journals and academic books, focusing on 16th century theatre and the life of John Florio. In 1941, she was employed by the Warburg Institute, and began to work on what she termed "Warburgian history", emphasising a pan-European and inter-disciplinary approach to historiography.
In 1964 she published Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, an examination of Bruno, which came to be seen as her most significant publication. In this book, she emphasised the role of Hermeticism in Bruno's works, and the role that magic and mysticism played in Renaissance thinking. She wrote extensively on the occult or Neoplatonic philosophies of the Renaissance.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 24, 2024
1. The Elizabethan Revival in the Jacobean Age
2. Cymbeline
3. Henry VIII
4. Magic in the Last Plays: The Tempest
5. A Sequel: Ben Jonson and the Last Plays
2. Cymbeline
3. Henry VIII
4. Magic in the Last Plays: The Tempest
5. A Sequel: Ben Jonson and the Last Plays
February 3, 2014
Have you read Frances Yates' "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment?" If the answer to that is yes, and you would like more in that same vein, then this would be a great find for you, it is the companion book. It tells the story of the brother of the Winter king of Bohemia, detailed in the Rosicrucian enlightenment, and relates Shakespeare's plays to the political and philosophic/magical ideas that circulated around this figure. It details his death and illustrates a change in the themes of Shakespeare's plays that the dame sees as having resulted from this tragedy.
Not being a Shakespearean enthusiast, I am unsure how successfully this is accomplished but miss Yates also draws an intriguing parallel between Marlowe's writings and philosophical/political/magical agenda staunchly against that of Shakespeare. She pits Marlowe against Shakespeare in a fantastic ideological battle; where the former is sided with the inquisition against Magic and the "Occult Philosophy," and Shakespeare being firmly in support of the same. She gives several very striking examples to support her claims.
Read the Rosicrucian Enlightenment first, even if you're just interested in the Shakespearean connection. The back story for understanding Elizabethan England is indispensable and this work as a companion is an intriguing follow-up to the story.
Not being a Shakespearean enthusiast, I am unsure how successfully this is accomplished but miss Yates also draws an intriguing parallel between Marlowe's writings and philosophical/political/magical agenda staunchly against that of Shakespeare. She pits Marlowe against Shakespeare in a fantastic ideological battle; where the former is sided with the inquisition against Magic and the "Occult Philosophy," and Shakespeare being firmly in support of the same. She gives several very striking examples to support her claims.
Read the Rosicrucian Enlightenment first, even if you're just interested in the Shakespearean connection. The back story for understanding Elizabethan England is indispensable and this work as a companion is an intriguing follow-up to the story.
February 8, 2018
An analysis of the imagery and the political messages of William Shakespeare's last plays, starting with Pericles.
Which is to say, those plays that started to be referred to as his late comedies, or his romances, as soon as the Victorians cleared up the sequence they were written in. (More or less -- Yates observes that Pericles is probably the first of the last plays.)
It discusses the use of such images as the phoenix -- particularly for Princess Elizabeth, as if she were Queen Elizabeth reborn -- the cypress, and more. How Imogene, in Cymbeline, has the same name as the wife of that mythical founder of Britain, Brut. How the royal family of Cymbeline echoed that of James -- which may be why it was not performed for Princess Elizabeth and her bridegroom, because Prince Henry, the much admired Prince of Wales, had died since her betrothal.
How Henry VIII makes all the imagery's connection to the modern day clearest. Its conciliatory elements: Queen Katherine is depicted as a good woman deeply grieved by the events, and promised a heavenly reward by a vision, and even Wosley is treated with some sympathy after his fall.
The Tempest and the treatment of magic -- and such a magus as Dr. Dee, who had died in poverty. Other Renaissance magic element.
She also treats of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, which inverts many of Shakespeare's themes.
Some interesting stuff.
Which is to say, those plays that started to be referred to as his late comedies, or his romances, as soon as the Victorians cleared up the sequence they were written in. (More or less -- Yates observes that Pericles is probably the first of the last plays.)
It discusses the use of such images as the phoenix -- particularly for Princess Elizabeth, as if she were Queen Elizabeth reborn -- the cypress, and more. How Imogene, in Cymbeline, has the same name as the wife of that mythical founder of Britain, Brut. How the royal family of Cymbeline echoed that of James -- which may be why it was not performed for Princess Elizabeth and her bridegroom, because Prince Henry, the much admired Prince of Wales, had died since her betrothal.
How Henry VIII makes all the imagery's connection to the modern day clearest. Its conciliatory elements: Queen Katherine is depicted as a good woman deeply grieved by the events, and promised a heavenly reward by a vision, and even Wosley is treated with some sympathy after his fall.
The Tempest and the treatment of magic -- and such a magus as Dr. Dee, who had died in poverty. Other Renaissance magic element.
She also treats of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, which inverts many of Shakespeare's themes.
Some interesting stuff.
June 24, 2020
What a fantastic book. I learned more about the Jacobean era than I ever have before, which is admittedly a flaw on my part (I tend more towards the Elizabethan) but also due to the fact that I have never seen any history of that time written about so competently and enthrallingly. I'll have to look up everything Frances Yates has ever written now ...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews