The''Chymical Theatre'': Alchemical Imagery in Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure

《逸樂修道院》劇中的鍊金意象

This paper examines alchemical imagery and discourses in The Convent of Pleasure (1668) by Margaret Cavendish. In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, there was a proliferation of alchemical texts, including English translations of writing by European alchemists. Inspired by the ideas and the practice of alchemy, many contemporary authors, such as Cavendish, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare, drew extensively from alchemy in their works. Cavendish's incorporation of alchemical principles, emblems, and lexicons into her philosophical treatises and literary writing is specifically significant. My reading of alchemy in The Convent addresses two main issues: the first is the symbolic meaning of Lady Happy's convent, and its connection with the debate over nature and art| the second are the images of the''chemical wedding'' and''virgin milk'' in the sea masque. In this way, this paper contributes to the growing interest in early modern alchemy by articulating the performative use of alchemical imagery in Cavendish's play.

本論文旨在探討瑪格麗特‧柯芬蒂詩劇作《逸樂修道院》（1668）之鍊金意象與議題。十六、十七世紀之際，英國大量出現鍊金著作，包括歐陸鍊金文獻之英譯。當代許多作家，如柯芬蒂詩、約翰‧唐恩、本‧姜生、以及莎士比亞等人，都在著作當中大量援引鍊金相關題材，特別是柯芬蒂詩的哲學和文學文本，均有涉及鍊金術理念、圖象和語彙之運用。本研究主要針對兩項議題：一是劇中修道院的象徵意涵，及其與自然與人為論辯之關係|二是劇中劇「海神面具舞」呈現的「鍊金合婚」與「處女之乳」意象。本論文對於早期現代鍊金研究的的主要貢獻，在於釐清柯芬蒂詩劇作對於鍊金意象的展演運用。