Cover Image
QR Code

Stage Devilry: Knowledge, Pleasure, and Antitheatricality on the Eighteenth-Century English Stage.

This essay discusses the figure of the devil in eighteenth-century theatrical works, focusing on two pantomimes based on the Faust legend: John Thurmond’s Harlequin Doctor Faustus; with the Grand Masque of the Heathen Deities and John Rich’s The Necromancer; or, Harlequin Doctor Faustus. Both pantom...

Full description

Published in:Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 20 - 37
Main Author: froid, daniel
Format: Article
Published: University of Pennsylvania Press Summer2021
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=157039801&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 157039801
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        15310485
        DBLW
      jtl: Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies
      issn: 15310485
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Summer2021
      vid: 21
      iid: 3
      pid: 4636
      pub: University of Pennsylvania Press
    artinfo:
      ui:
        157039801
        10.1353/jem.2021.0017
      ppf: 20
      ppct: 17
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 906KB
      tig:
        atl: Stage Devilry: Knowledge, Pleasure, and Antitheatricality on the Eighteenth-Century English Stage.
      aug:
        au: froid, daniel
      sug:
      ab: This essay discusses the figure of the devil in eighteenth-century theatrical works, focusing on two pantomimes based on the Faust legend: John Thurmond’s Harlequin Doctor Faustus; with the Grand Masque of the Heathen Deities and John Rich’s The Necromancer; or, Harlequin Doctor Faustus. Both pantomimes premiered in 1723 and were among the most successful theatrical works of the century. The devils that appear in these pantomimes embody the fears of antitheatrical discourse, which emphasized the pernicious effects of theatergoers’ pleasure-seeking. This essay argues that stage devils serve as a self-reflexive mechanism by which theatrical texts stage the act of seeking theatrical pleasure and, thereby, engage with criticisms of the genre’s moral and epistemological possibilities.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies is the property of University of Pennsylvania Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies
      holder: University of Pennsylvania Press
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2021
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N