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 xiii
... cause and effect do not work " ; the play manipulates the audi- ence to experience conflicted responses . I have also tried to speculate about the origins of the plays in what existed in Shakespeare's outer world . In a period of ...
... cause and effect do not work " ; the play manipulates the audi- ence to experience conflicted responses . I have also tried to speculate about the origins of the plays in what existed in Shakespeare's outer world . In a period of ...
Página 2
... causes in circumstances and character ; after all , it is only by believing in that logic that we are able to carry on in life . Yet significant gaps and paradoxes disrupt the sequences of action in these plays and bring such coherence ...
... causes in circumstances and character ; after all , it is only by believing in that logic that we are able to carry on in life . Yet significant gaps and paradoxes disrupt the sequences of action in these plays and bring such coherence ...
Página 6
... caused universal distress in the 1590s anticipated the development of a world ruled by market forces remote and in- comprehensible to the average person . Even a good harvest was per- verse misfortune for the hoarder referred to by ...
... caused universal distress in the 1590s anticipated the development of a world ruled by market forces remote and in- comprehensible to the average person . Even a good harvest was per- verse misfortune for the hoarder referred to by ...
Página 7
... causes of things were hidden from sight . The Elizabethan - Jacobean person tended to believe that drought and pestilence were evidences of a universal disturbance . It would be readily felt that the storms that rage in Julius Caesar or ...
... causes of things were hidden from sight . The Elizabethan - Jacobean person tended to believe that drought and pestilence were evidences of a universal disturbance . It would be readily felt that the storms that rage in Julius Caesar or ...
Página 9
... cause . " But the mystery of human causes often seems in Shakespeare's plays , as it often seemed in common expe- rience , to be impenetrable . Socially , historians have come to realize , the England of “ good queen Bess " was only ...
... cause . " But the mystery of human causes often seems in Shakespeare's plays , as it often seemed in common expe- rience , to be impenetrable . Socially , historians have come to realize , the England of “ good queen Bess " was only ...
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