SOURCE: "Neoclassicim and the Scientific Frame of Mind: Ben Jonson and Mystick Symboles," in Renaissance Magic and the Return of the Golden Age: The Occult Tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, pp. 156-73.
In the following essay, Mebane explores an apparent contradiction between Jonson's conservative neoclassicism, as outlined in Discoveries, and his frequent use of "occult philosophy, " allegory, and symbolism in the masques. Mebane sees Jonson negotiating between prior occult traditions and the growing restraint and rationalism of Baconian science.
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