Idolatry, iconoclasm and agency: visual experience in works by Lyly and Shakespeare

Studies of early modern English drama which refer to the Reformation often assume that religious changes had a destructive impact on English visual culture. Recent research in art history has, however, suggested that the Reformation should be understood as a part of the development of English visual culture. Applying this latter understanding of the Reformation to an analysis of John Lyly's Campaspe and Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, it is possible to argue that these plays draw on notions of viewer agency fostered by idolatrous and iconoclastic visual experiences. The discussion of plays as a part of the 're-formation' of English visual culture expands current understanding of early modern playhouse audience experiences.