Shakespeare's Tragic SkepticismYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 304 páginas Readers of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies have long noted the absence of readily explainable motivations for some of Shakespeare’s greatest characters: why does Hamlet delay his revenge for so long? Why does King Lear choose to renounce his power? Why is Othello so vulnerable to Iago’s malice? But while many critics have chosen to overlook these omissions or explain them away, Millicent Bell demonstrates that they are essential elements of Shakespeare’s philosophy of doubt. Examining the major tragedies, Millicent Bell reveals the persistent strain of philosophical skepticism. Like his contemporary, Montaigne, Shakespeare repeatedly calls attention to the essential unknowability of our world. In a period of social, political, and religious upheaval, uncertainty hovered over matters great and small—the succession of the crown, the death of loved ones from plague, the failure of a harvest. Tumultuous social conditions raised ultimate questions for Shakespeare, Bell argues, and ultimately provoked in him a skepticism which casts shadows of existential doubt over his greatest masterpieces. |
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Resultados 1-5 de 64
Página x
... human character and the moral significance of behavior , or even about the discoverable links to one another of human events —these were not always sustained by the plays . I began to sus- pect , as some others have , that Shakespeare's ...
... human character and the moral significance of behavior , or even about the discoverable links to one another of human events —these were not always sustained by the plays . I began to sus- pect , as some others have , that Shakespeare's ...
Página xi
... human choice always plays a role . Nor as the consequence of blind accident , either . Critics have rarely admitted that Shakespeare leaves the dilemma unresolved . I am very grateful to have found encouragement for my own views in a ...
... human choice always plays a role . Nor as the consequence of blind accident , either . Critics have rarely admitted that Shakespeare leaves the dilemma unresolved . I am very grateful to have found encouragement for my own views in a ...
Página xiii
... human percep- tion of pattern is folly " -and yet manages to assert pattern and order through language and makes the audience " think in multiple dimensions . " Macbeth , Booth writes , is a play in which “ finality is regularly ...
... human percep- tion of pattern is folly " -and yet manages to assert pattern and order through language and makes the audience " think in multiple dimensions . " Macbeth , Booth writes , is a play in which “ finality is regularly ...
Página 1
... humanity and the universe , I feel the diffidence Eliot urged one to have . I believe that the plays I am examining in this I is- — book exhibit the effects of a potent philosophic Introduction: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.
... humanity and the universe , I feel the diffidence Eliot urged one to have . I believe that the plays I am examining in this I is- — book exhibit the effects of a potent philosophic Introduction: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.
Página 2
... human selfhood as a known and consistent quality by which a man or woman is identified . As for the plot of time by which events are linked together - a sequence and relation that makes rational sense of human experience - this , too ...
... human selfhood as a known and consistent quality by which a man or woman is identified . As for the plot of time by which events are linked together - a sequence and relation that makes rational sense of human experience - this , too ...
Contenido
1 | |
29 | |
2 Othellos Jealousy | 80 |
3 Unaccommodated Lear | 138 |
4 Macbeths Deeds | 191 |
The Roman Frame | 241 |
Selected Bibliography | 279 |
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Términos y frases comunes
action actor ambiguous ambition Antony and Cleopatra Antony's appears asks audience Banquo blood Brabantio Brutus called Cassio cause character Cinthio Claudius Cordelia crime daughters death deed denies Desdemona doubt dramatic Duncan Edgar Edmund Emilia expressed faith false father feel fideism Florio Folio Fool Fortinbras fourth act ghost Gloucester Goneril Hamlet hath hear Horatio human Iago Iago's idea identity imagination jealousy Julius Caesar Kent killed King Lear Lady Macbeth Laertes lago Lear's Macduff Machiavellian madness Malcolm marriage meaning mind Montaigne Montaigne's motive murder nature never observed Ophelia Othello philosophic skepticism play's playwright plot Plutarch Polonius prophecy Quarto reference Regan reminds revenge Roderigo role royal says scene seems selfhood sense sexual Shake Shakespeare Shakespeare's play skepticism social soliloquy someone speaks speare's stage story suggested tells theater theatrical things thou thought tion tragedy tragic trial true truth witchcraft witches word