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 ix
... present thinking. So in writing this book I have avoided massive annotation. I have also tried to restrain myself from trumpeting my own discoveries too confidently or pointing insistently to my differences from others. The originality ...
... present thinking. So in writing this book I have avoided massive annotation. I have also tried to restrain myself from trumpeting my own discoveries too confidently or pointing insistently to my differences from others. The originality ...
Página x
... present them- selves . But those plausible stories , those familiar ideas that reassur- ingly " make sense " of experience for the majority of mankind in each generation — especially ideas about the definition and stability of human ...
... present them- selves . But those plausible stories , those familiar ideas that reassur- ingly " make sense " of experience for the majority of mankind in each generation — especially ideas about the definition and stability of human ...
Página 9
... present as the skies in the minds of English men and women as Elizabeth's long reign came to an end . Those mysteriously frequent seasons of drought or blight had combined with the long - time trend of the enclosure of agricultural land ...
... present as the skies in the minds of English men and women as Elizabeth's long reign came to an end . Those mysteriously frequent seasons of drought or blight had combined with the long - time trend of the enclosure of agricultural land ...
Página 15
... , thoughts that may be just barely visible where witches are actually present , as in Macbeth , or suggestively referred to , as in Othello . In reading Macbeth one may suppose that the attraction of the Introduction 15.
... , thoughts that may be just barely visible where witches are actually present , as in Macbeth , or suggestively referred to , as in Othello . In reading Macbeth one may suppose that the attraction of the Introduction 15.
Página 36
... present in the play ; it is , in fact , to be seen in only one of the tragedies I am discussing in this book , King Lear , where , as we shall observe , it plays a major role . Hamlet's feigned madness - if that is what he exhibits — is ...
... present in the play ; it is , in fact , to be seen in only one of the tragedies I am discussing in this book , King Lear , where , as we shall observe , it plays a major role . Hamlet's feigned madness - if that is what he exhibits — is ...
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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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