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The word ‘atheist’, together with its derivatives, was in frequent use in early modern England. At a time when very few people would have identified as an atheist, the extensiveness of the term is an indication of the wide range of ways in which the word was understood or defined. This chapter uses the model of the spectrum to explore these ideas through an analysis of the new plays of the long Restoration period (1660–1720), with particular attention to Thomas Otway’s 1683 play The Atheist. The evidence of the plays helps us to grapple with the ambiguity of the language of atheism in the period and leads to a conclusion that reinforces Roger Lund’s view of the polyvalency of the word.

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The Atheism Spectrum—Forms of Atheism in Restoration Drama

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • David Fletcher

摘要

The word ‘atheist’, together with its derivatives, was in frequent use in early modern England. At a time when very few people would have identified as an atheist, the extensiveness of the term is an indication of the wide range of ways in which the word was understood or defined. This chapter uses the model of the spectrum to explore these ideas through an analysis of the new plays of the long Restoration period (1660–1720), with particular attention to Thomas Otway’s 1683 play The Atheist. The evidence of the plays helps us to grapple with the ambiguity of the language of atheism in the period and leads to a conclusion that reinforces Roger Lund’s view of the polyvalency of the word.