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 36
... speak , ' Sblood , do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe ? ” If Ham- let's " mystery " is more- or perhaps less - than the secret plans he is suspected of nursing , it is ultimately unknowable . Yet he himself is a spy ...
... speak , ' Sblood , do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe ? ” If Ham- let's " mystery " is more- or perhaps less - than the secret plans he is suspected of nursing , it is ultimately unknowable . Yet he himself is a spy ...
Página 52
... speak to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern . The ex- planation generally offered is that he is trying to throw the two spies off the scent . The play's New Cambridge editor , Philip Edwards , says , " So often pointed to as a brilliant ...
... speak to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern . The ex- planation generally offered is that he is trying to throw the two spies off the scent . The play's New Cambridge editor , Philip Edwards , says , " So often pointed to as a brilliant ...
Página 57
... not represented by a personal pro- noun : “ Speak to it , Horatio . . . . Mark it , Horatio . . . . It would be spoke to .... Question it , Horatio . " Horatio demands , What [ not ' who ' ] art thou that Hamlet , Revenge ! 57.
... not represented by a personal pro- noun : “ Speak to it , Horatio . . . . Mark it , Horatio . . . . It would be spoke to .... Question it , Horatio . " Horatio demands , What [ not ' who ' ] art thou that Hamlet , Revenge ! 57.
Página 58
... speak to it though hell itself should gape . ” In the end he decides to give it the name that belongs uniquely to the dead king : “ I'll call thee Hamlet , / King , father , royal Dane . ” This is a declaration that anticipates his own ...
... speak to it though hell itself should gape . ” In the end he decides to give it the name that belongs uniquely to the dead king : “ I'll call thee Hamlet , / King , father , royal Dane . ” This is a declaration that anticipates his own ...
Página 60
... Speak loudly for him . But Hamlet's assumption of the paternal martial heritage comes late . What Shakespeare thinks of conventional types is represented in his portrait of Laertes — the prompt avenger of a father's mur- der , but ...
... Speak loudly for him . But Hamlet's assumption of the paternal martial heritage comes late . What Shakespeare thinks of conventional types is represented in his portrait of Laertes — the prompt avenger of a father's mur- der , but ...
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