The School of Night: Difference between revisions
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The novel ''The School of Night'' by [[Alan Wall]] is the story of a present-day researcher who becomes obsessed by connections between [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s plays and members of the "school". A play of the same name by [[Peter Whelan]], dealing with the relationship between Shakespeare and [[Christopher Marlowe]], was presented by the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] at [[The Other Place (theatre)|The Other Place]] theatre in November 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calm.shakespeare.org.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Works&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=(Title=%27school%20of%20night%27)|title=Archive catalogue|last=Staff|publisher=Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust|accessdate=2008-12-03}}</ref> |
The novel ''The School of Night'' by [[Alan Wall]] is the story of a present-day researcher who becomes obsessed by connections between [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s plays and members of the "school". A play of the same name by [[Peter Whelan]], dealing with the relationship between Shakespeare and [[Christopher Marlowe]], was presented by the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] at [[The Other Place (theatre)|The Other Place]] theatre in November 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calm.shakespeare.org.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Works&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=(Title=%27school%20of%20night%27)|title=Archive catalogue|last=Staff|publisher=Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust|accessdate=2008-12-03}}</ref> |
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The School of Night also figures prominently in [[Nicholas Christopher]]'s novel ''Veronica'' |
The School of Night also figures prominently in [[Nicholas Christopher]]'s novel ''Veronica'' <ref>http://www.nicholaschristopher.com/</ref> and [[Anthony Burgess]]'s novel ''A Dead Man in Deptford''. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 13:03, 21 October 2010
The School of Night is a modern name for a group of men centred on Sir Walter Raleigh that was once referred to in 1592 as the "School of Atheism." The group supposedly included poets and scientists such as Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman and Thomas Harriot. There is no firm evidence that all of these men were all known to each other, but speculation about their connections features prominently in some writing about the Elizabethan era.
Name
Raleigh was first named as the centre of "The School of Atheism" by the Jesuit priest Robert Persons in 1592.[1] "The School of Night" is a modern name; it derives from a passage in Act IV, scene III of William Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost, in which the King of Navarre says "Black is the badge of hell / The hue of dungeons and the school of night."[2] There are however at least two other recorded renderings of the line, one reading "suit of night"[2][3] and the other reading "scowl of night."[4][5] The context of the lines has nothing to do with cabals: the King is simply sneering at the black hair of his friend Berowne's lover. However, some writers have seen the line as an allusion to Raleigh's 'school of atheism', and have used "The School of Night" as a name for the group. The theory was launched by Arthur Acheson, on textual grounds, in Shakespeare and the rival Poet (1903).[6][7] In 1936 Frances Yates found an unpublished essay on scholarship by the Earl of Northumberland, an associate of Raleigh and supposed member of the movement, and interpreted it as inspiring the key celibacy theme of the play.[2] The supposition is discounted as fanciful by some, but nonetheless received acceptance by some prominent commentators of the time.[2][8]
Atheism
It is alleged that each of these men studied science, philosophy, and religion, and all were suspected of atheism. Atheism at that time was a charge nearly the equivalent of treason, since the monarch was the head of the church and to be against the church was, ipso facto, to be against the monarch. However, it was also a name for anarchy, and was a charge frequently brought against the politically troublesome. Richard Chomley, an anti-Catholic spy for her Majesty's Privy Council, charged in an affidavit Marlowe had "read the Atheist lecture to Sr. Walter Raleigh [and] others," substantiating charges of atheism against the group. [9] The group was controversially said to be satanists and pagans who worshipped pagan gods at night.[citation needed]
Fiction
The novel The School of Night by Alan Wall is the story of a present-day researcher who becomes obsessed by connections between Shakespeare's plays and members of the "school". A play of the same name by Peter Whelan, dealing with the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, was presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place theatre in November 1992.[10]
The School of Night also figures prominently in Nicholas Christopher's novel Veronica [11] and Anthony Burgess's novel A Dead Man in Deptford.
References
- Muriel C. Bradbrook, The School of Night: A Study in the Literary Relationships of Raleigh (1936)
- Frances Yates, A study of Love's labour's lost (1936)
- ^ Stone, Jean (1905). Studies from Court and Cloister. London: Sands and Co. p. 145. OCLC 35767412.
- ^ a b c d Schoenbaum, S (1991). Shakespeare's Lives. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 537. ISBN 0-19-818618-5.
abtruse and eccentric scholarship...the whole superstructure of theory... rests on an insecure foundation
- ^ SCENE III. The same. at shakespeare.mit.edu
- ^ Love's Labour's Lost at Absolute Shakespeare at absoluteshakespeare.com
- ^ Act IV. Scene III. Love’s Labour’s Lost. Craig, W.J., ed. 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare at www.bartleby.com
- ^ Acheson, Arthur (1903). Shakespeare and the rival poet; displaying Shakespeare as a satirist and proving the identity of the patron and the rival of the sonnets. London: John Lane. OCLC 268858.
- ^ Bradbrook, Muriel (1936). The school of night: a study in the literary relationships of Sir Walter Raleigh. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 7.
- ^ Butler, Eliza (1949). Ritual Magic. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 308. ISBN 052129553X.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Samuel (1928). The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe (A New View). The Shoe String Press. pp. 49–50. LCC PR2673.T3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Staff. "Archive catalogue". Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ http://www.nicholaschristopher.com/