Thesis--Catholic University of America. / "Select bibliography": p. vi-vii.

This thesis traces the development of Augustine's paradigm of the two cities (the City of God and the earthly city) in the cultural poetics of the English Renaissance. Although scholars have studied the impact of Augustine's model on theology, historical consciousness, and political theories in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, little attention has been paid to the genealogy of the more specifically "literary" aspects of the idea of the two cities. My line of inquiry is the relationship between Augustine's model of the two cities and the idea of drama. More specifically, this project explores the ways in which the idea o f the two cities spoke to various communities—of readers, of worshippers, and ultimately, of playgoers. Augustine's view of drama is divided; on the one hand, he speaks at length about the evil influence of Roman spectacles, but on the other hand, he acknowledges that the world itself is a theatre for God's cosmic drama. However, this employment of drama is limited in Augustine's writing, because his greater commitment is to the idea of Scripture. This interplay between drama and Scripture, I suggest, is an integral part of the two-cities model that is related to his theology of history. The tension between the idea of drama and the idea o f the book is evident in English Reformation appropriations of Augustine's model, such as those of John Bale and John Foxe, who changed the terminology to "the two churches." The second section of my thesis shows how these Reformers contained their own "dramatic" adaptations of the two cities within an even narrower theatre than Augustine's—a theatre constituted and contained by the Word. Shifting the focus to secular drama, the final section concerns Shakespeare's use of some facets of the two-cities model in his Jacobean plays, and examines the effects of removing this construct from its religious context. The result, I argue, is a theatre that celebrates its own aesthetic power and flaunts its sheer physicality, resisting the presumed stability of the written word.

This thesis traces the development of Augustine's paradigm of the two cities (the City of God and the earthly city) in the cultural poetics of the English Renaissance. Although scholars have studied the impact of Augustine's model on theology, historical consciousness, and political theories in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, little attention has been paid to the genealogy of the more specifically "literary" aspects of the idea of the two cities. My line of inquiry is the relationship between Augustine's model of the two cities and the idea of drama. More specifically, this project explores the ways in which the idea o f the two cities spoke to various communities—of readers, of worshippers, and ultimately, of playgoers. Augustine's view of drama is divided; on the one hand, he speaks at length about the evil influence of Roman spectacles, but on the other hand, he acknowledges that the world itself is a theatre for God's cosmic drama. However, this employment of drama is limited in Augustine's writing, because his greater commitment is to the idea of Scripture. This interplay between drama and Scripture, I suggest, is an integral part of the two-cities model that is related to his theology of history. The tension between the idea of drama and the idea o f the book is evident in English Reformation appropriations of Augustine's model, such as those of John Bale and John Foxe, who changed the terminology to "the two churches." The second section of my thesis shows how these Reformers contained their own "dramatic" adaptations of the two cities within an even narrower theatre than Augustine's—a theatre constituted and contained by the Word. Shifting the focus to secular drama, the final section concerns Shakespeare's use of some facets of the two-cities model in his Jacobean plays, and examines the effects of removing this construct from its religious context. The result, I argue, is a theatre that celebrates its own aesthetic power and flaunts its sheer physicality, resisting the presumed stability of the written word. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

La Cité de Dieu a été rédigée dans une perspective polémique vis-à-vis les païens. La prise de Rome, en 410, a entraîné en Afrique du Nord la venue d’une élite cultivée, revivaliste et admirative du vieux polythéisme. Contre cette mouvance nostalgique, tributaire des anciens majoritairement sur le plan intellectuel et livresque, Augustin s’en prend à la bibliothèque des nouveaux arrivants. La Cité de Dieu peut, le cas échéant, être lue par la négative, c’est-à-dire par le biais de la critique qu’élabore Augustin de trois auteurs choisis, Varron, Cicéron et Salluste, qui résument et représentent conjointement l’essence de la culture classique. Tant chez les païens que chez l’évêque d’Hippone – leur détracteur –, Varron incarne la fine pointe de la théologie romano-hellénistique, Salluste est celui qui a mené à sa perfection la discipline de l’histoire, Cicéron a écrit le parachèvement des oeuvres sur la République, et chacun préconise sa structure idéologique propre, les trois domaines formant pourtant un ensemble systémique. Tout en louant ses illustres prédécesseurs, Augustin leur porte une critique générale et c’est à cette critique que seront consacrées nos analyses. / The City of God was written from a polemical perspective in opposition to the pagans. In 410 DC, the Fall of Rome led to the rise of a cultured elite in North Africa who were revivalist and admired the ancient polytheism. Against this nostalgic movement, which was mainly dependent on the Ancients, intellectually and in terms of the literature, Augustine attacked the newcomers’ literary basis. The City of God can be read in the negative, that is, in terms of the criticism Augustine develops of three chosen authors, Varro, Cicero and Sallust, who summarize and jointly represent the essence of classical culture. To both the pagans and the bishop of Hippo – their detractor –, Varro embodies the cutting edge of Roman-Hellenistic theology, while Sallust led the discipline of history to its perfection, and Cicero wrote the definitive works on the Republic – each promoting his own ideological structure, yet with the three areas forming a systemic whole. While praising his illustrious predecessors, Augustine levels a general criticism against them and it is on this criticism that our analyses will focus.