Veritas filia Temporis: Apocalyptic Polemics in the Drama of the English Reformation

Authors

Dawn Massey

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

"Time tries the truth"; "Time brings the truth to light"; "Truth is Time's Daughter."¹ The idea framed by the last of these proverbial expressions is integral to the allegorical structure of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (c.1609-10). The Latin form of the motto, Veritas filia Temporis, appeared on the title page of Robert Greene's Pandosto: The Triumph of Time (c.1588), the narrative prose work which served as the principal source for Shakespeare's play.² These prominent uses of the motto suggest its substantial cultural currency in sixteenth-century England. As Fritz Saxl's pioneering study suggests, Veritas filia Temporis held a prominent place in an intense religious-political dispute by virtue of the distinct providential implications which gradually came to be associated with the motto's use.³

Recommended Citation

Massey, Dawn (1998) "Veritas filia Temporis: Apocalyptic Polemics in the Drama of the English Reformation," Comparative Drama: Vol. 32: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol32/iss1/7