Iconoclasm and Iconophilia in Othello :: Othello Essays

Iconnoclasm and Iconophilia in OthelloIn his book contend Against the Idols, Carlos Eire argues that iconoclastic resistance to the Medieval Catholic Church began with the gentle scolding of Erasmus and ended as the shibboleth of radical Calvinism.1 The use of frames in phantasmal instruction and practice was one of the major points of dispute between Protestant reformers and Catholic counter-reformers. Iconoclasm was certainly not confined to radical Calvinism Anglican reformers, peculiarly those who had spent time in continental Europe as exiles ( comparable joke Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury), quickly raised the issue in their country, which had its own unique taradiddle of religious reform. The discussions of image and idolatry in Calvin and Jewel represent accompaniment theories of the image that derive from but also revise ancient Platonic theories of the image. Reformation iconoclasm brings up issues of ontology (who or what is God?), epistemology (by what means are w e to fill in him? can he be represented to human senses?), and ethics (how does knowledge of God translate into moral action?). Protestant iconoclasts tend to try the epistemological worth (or rather, worthlessness) of religious imagery, while the Catholic iconophiles emphasize the dogmatic moral effects to be derived from the use of images in religious instruction.Although sparked in the 1520s and 30s, the debate between iconoclasts and iconophiles raged throughout the latter sixteenth century, well into Shakespeares time. The iconoclastic writings of Zwingli and Calvin had a powerful legacy throughout Europe. Calvins collected Institutes of the Christian Religion was published in 1559. Perhaps spurred by theological arguments like Calvins, violent stripping of church imagery and other popular agitation over idolatry took place in Switzerland and elsewhere on the continent. In England, John Jewels dialogues with Dr. Harding on the subject of imagery, drawing very much on Calvins arguments, were published in 1565 and again in 1611. During the English Reformation, the churches and monasteries of England were also naked of their images by some Protestant objectors. It is clear that iconoclasm was an issue not all for elite churchmen--it also captured the hearts and minds of the general population, who were the audience of Shakespeares theater.The problem of the image is traced, by many Protestant theologians, to several major scriptural conflicts. The rootage important reference is Gods pronouncement in Genesis Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen.