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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Página ix
... Caesar, and Antony and Cleo- patra by the realization that much previous discussion tended to confine and reduce their variousness and contradictions. There has always been a simplifying readiness to impose the critic's own con- ix ...
... Caesar, and Antony and Cleo- patra by the realization that much previous discussion tended to confine and reduce their variousness and contradictions. There has always been a simplifying readiness to impose the critic's own con- ix ...
Página xv
... Caesar ; and David Beving- ton , editor of the 1990 New Cambridge Antony and Cleopatra . In addition I have consulted other modern editions , like Harold Jenkins's 1982 Arden Hamlet , Philip Edwards's 1985 New Cam- Preface XV.
... Caesar ; and David Beving- ton , editor of the 1990 New Cambridge Antony and Cleopatra . In addition I have consulted other modern editions , like Harold Jenkins's 1982 Arden Hamlet , Philip Edwards's 1985 New Cam- Preface XV.
Página 7
... Caesar or King Lear are not merely poetic metaphor of social and po- litical turmoil but literal symptoms of discord and disorder in all things . Not only had there been an earthquake in London in 1580 , but the heavens seemed to ...
... Caesar or King Lear are not merely poetic metaphor of social and po- litical turmoil but literal symptoms of discord and disorder in all things . Not only had there been an earthquake in London in 1580 , but the heavens seemed to ...
Página 8
... Caesar and " does not advance the action in any way . " Catastrophe will come to Denmark in due course , though it will take the whole length of the play for its full measure to arrive . Nature's disorders will be shown to correspond to ...
... Caesar and " does not advance the action in any way . " Catastrophe will come to Denmark in due course , though it will take the whole length of the play for its full measure to arrive . Nature's disorders will be shown to correspond to ...
Página 27
... Caesar [ and had been ] killed i ' th ' capital , ” there could have been a shud- der of anticipation in seeing that this Polonius , soon to be killed by Hamlet , had been Caesar weeks before and that the leading actor vividly recalled ...
... Caesar [ and had been ] killed i ' th ' capital , ” there could have been a shud- der of anticipation in seeing that this Polonius , soon to be killed by Hamlet , had been Caesar weeks before and that the leading actor vividly recalled ...
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