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. |
Dentro del libro
Resultados 1-5 de 18
Página 32
... madness the Revenger is supposed to feign to conceal his purposes an occasion for paradoxical wit and cynic philosophy as well as a symptom of the hero's real mental anguish , introduce in Laertes the model of the effective Revenger yet ...
... madness the Revenger is supposed to feign to conceal his purposes an occasion for paradoxical wit and cynic philosophy as well as a symptom of the hero's real mental anguish , introduce in Laertes the model of the effective Revenger yet ...
Página 36
... madness - if that is what he exhibits — is a disguise like the disguises of a mystery story , but one that does not break down , finally , to reveal the truth being sought . What this pearance of madness conceals or reveals is never ...
... madness - if that is what he exhibits — is a disguise like the disguises of a mystery story , but one that does not break down , finally , to reveal the truth being sought . What this pearance of madness conceals or reveals is never ...
Página 39
... madness in the nunnery scene and else- where . In the Revenge tradition , madness is used by the avenger to divert suspicion ; in Shakespeare it actually arouses it , so that it has no practical function . Can it then be genuine , after ...
... madness in the nunnery scene and else- where . In the Revenge tradition , madness is used by the avenger to divert suspicion ; in Shakespeare it actually arouses it , so that it has no practical function . Can it then be genuine , after ...
Página 50
... madness has been genuine , we need seek no fur- ther for explanation of his grandly excessive despair . Unless , of course , we agree with Polonius that there is a “ method ” in his mad- ness . Polonius is all the more convinced of ...
... madness has been genuine , we need seek no fur- ther for explanation of his grandly excessive despair . Unless , of course , we agree with Polonius that there is a “ method ” in his mad- ness . Polonius is all the more convinced of ...
Página 51
... madness that taps into the an- cient idea of the mad person inspired with a wisdom beyond sanity . The same tradition that made madness a way of accessing sacred knowledge made the madman himself sacred . But from folk tradi- tion also ...
... madness that taps into the an- cient idea of the mad person inspired with a wisdom beyond sanity . The same tradition that made madness a way of accessing sacred knowledge made the madman himself sacred . But from folk tradi- tion also ...
Contenido
1 | |
29 | |
2 Othellos Jealousy | 80 |
3 Unaccommodated Lear | 138 |
4 Macbeths Deeds | 191 |
The Roman Frame | 241 |
Selected Bibliography | 279 |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
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