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 22
... beginning of the twentieth century that Shakespeare had " weakened and spoiled ” his original stories by leaving his charac- ters without motive . Hamlet's delay in executing revenge ; Othello's exaggerated vulnerability to suggestion ...
... beginning of the twentieth century that Shakespeare had " weakened and spoiled ” his original stories by leaving his charac- ters without motive . Hamlet's delay in executing revenge ; Othello's exaggerated vulnerability to suggestion ...
Página 33
... beginning with Ham- let's remark when the ghost can be heard groaning as it retreats to its purgatorial exile , “ You hear this fellow in the cellarage ” — cellarage being a term that reminds the audience that an actor is making noises ...
... beginning with Ham- let's remark when the ghost can be heard groaning as it retreats to its purgatorial exile , “ You hear this fellow in the cellarage ” — cellarage being a term that reminds the audience that an actor is making noises ...
Página 39
... beginning of the thirteenth century by Saxo Gram- maticus and a recent work - up of it in French by François Belle- forest , as well as the general Revenge design probably present in the earlier Hamlet play . So — picking and choosing ...
... beginning of the thirteenth century by Saxo Gram- maticus and a recent work - up of it in French by François Belle- forest , as well as the general Revenge design probably present in the earlier Hamlet play . So — picking and choosing ...
Página 41
... beginning simply stops and starts and is impeded by incident that does not advance it ; it is something ulti- mately inescapable , but operates discontinuously . The play seems to arrive where it must arrive almost without plan or ...
... beginning simply stops and starts and is impeded by incident that does not advance it ; it is something ulti- mately inescapable , but operates discontinuously . The play seems to arrive where it must arrive almost without plan or ...
Página 47
... beginning of the last act . During such intervals time bides its time . In Hamlet , the soliloquies that are so prominent and wonder- ful as poetic reverie stand even more apart from the action im- mediately surrounding them than is ...
... beginning of the last act . During such intervals time bides its time . In Hamlet , the soliloquies that are so prominent and wonder- ful as poetic reverie stand even more apart from the action im- mediately surrounding them than is ...
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