Transparency and Dissimulation: Configurations of Neoplatonism in Early Modern English Literature. Transformationen der Antike 16. Academia.edu A Cartesian Renaissance - Spenser Online Archive

: A significant portion of the book is dedicated to Marvell, examining how his poetry utilizes Neoplatonic tropes to explore the relationship between the mind and the external world.

: The monograph connects these ideas to the wider "Transformations of Antiquity," showing how early modern writers adapted classical thought to suit contemporary theological and political contexts. The Influence of "Transformations of Antiquity"

The monograph by Verena Olejniczak Lobsien , published by De Gruyter in 2010, explores the complex "configurations" of Neoplatonism in 16th and 17th-century English literature. Lobsien argues that Neoplatonism functioned as a dynamic imaginative force—a "configuration" that allowed authors to navigate the tension between the visible and the invisible, the material and the divine.

: Specifically, the study looks at The Faerie Queene , where Neoplatonism provides the framework for understanding aesthetic perfection and moral virtue.

This research was conducted within the "Transformations of Antiquity" collaborative research center in Berlin. It emphasizes that Neoplatonism was not just "inherited" from the past but was actively transformed. These transformations often involved a hybridity of ideas, where Neoplatonic love and beauty were negotiated alongside skepticism and the shifting religious identities of the Reformation.