The Path to Personal Salvation: The Hermetic Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and

273 Pages·2017·1.12 MB·English

University of New Mexico
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English Language and Literature ETDs Electronic Teses and Dissertations
6-24-2010
Te Path to Personal Salvation: Te Hermetic
Trope of Self-Mastery in Shakespeare, Bacon, and
Milton
Cassandra Amundson
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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
th th
The Late 16 and Early 17 Centuries and the Hermetic Mentality: Drama ............36
th
The Mid 17 Century and the Hermetic Mentality: Fiction .....................................37
th
The Late 17 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
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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: Eve as a Reflection of the Son ...........................216
Conclusion: Epic as Vehicle for Instruction ................................................................219
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................224
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................227
APPENDIX 1 THE EMERALD TABLET ................................................................227
APPENDIX 2 HERMETICA TRANSLATIONS ......................................................229
APPENDIX 3 ALCHEMY, ASTROLOGY, THEURGY PASSAGES...................242
APPENDIX 4 BACON AND THE ROSICRUCIAN FAMA ..................................245
APPENDIX 5 EDITIONS AND COMMENTARIES ON THE CORPUS .............246
APPENDIX 6 TEXTS BEARING HERMETIC INFLUENCE ..............................247
WORKS CITED.............................................................................................................249

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