Shakespeare's Tragic SkepticismYale University Press, 01/10/2008 - 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 1
... hear . The Romantics thought he was " myriad - minded " -Coleridge's term . His entertainment of con- traries , his apparent self - contradiction , showed the “ negative capa- bility " Keats said was the mark of literary genius . In ...
... hear . The Romantics thought he was " myriad - minded " -Coleridge's term . His entertainment of con- traries , his apparent self - contradiction , showed the “ negative capa- bility " Keats said was the mark of literary genius . In ...
Página 31
... hear before a terrified Claudius rises from his seat . It is stale bombast cast into out - of - style couplets , unlike the naturalistic dialogue enclosing it . Shakespeare seems to have wanted to exaggerate its theatricality . He sets ...
... hear before a terrified Claudius rises from his seat . It is stale bombast cast into out - of - style couplets , unlike the naturalistic dialogue enclosing it . Shakespeare seems to have wanted to exaggerate its theatricality . He sets ...
Página 33
... hear this fellow in the cellarage ” — cellarage being a term that reminds the audience that an actor is making noises down in the space beneath the stage . At a theater like the Globe , where the same company played repeatedly , the ...
... hear this fellow in the cellarage ” — cellarage being a term that reminds the audience that an actor is making noises down in the space beneath the stage . At a theater like the Globe , where the same company played repeatedly , the ...
Página 45
... hear in the opening scene have produced “ post - haste and rummage in the land , " the casting of cannons and the labor of ship- wrights making " the night joint - labourer with the day , " but they are not a prelude to anything . The ...
... hear in the opening scene have produced “ post - haste and rummage in the land , " the casting of cannons and the labor of ship- wrights making " the night joint - labourer with the day , " but they are not a prelude to anything . The ...
Página 47
... hear about fur- ther — to keep a watch on unreliable young Laertes , who is on the loose in Paris . Only after seventy lines is Ophelia brought in , with her revelation to her father concerning Hamlet's strange behav- ior . Such ...
... hear about fur- ther — to keep a watch on unreliable young Laertes , who is on the loose in Paris . Only after seventy lines is Ophelia brought in , with her revelation to her father concerning Hamlet's strange behav- ior . Such ...
Índice
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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Palavras e frases frequentes
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