Shakespeare and the Critics

Author: French, A. L.

Brand: Cambridge University Press

Edition: Reissue

Binding: paperback

Format: Import

Number Of Pages: 252

Release Date: 24-06-2010

Part Number: Worked examples or Exercises

Details: Product Description


If we read Shakespeare assuming that he is a consummate artist producing nothing but flawless masterpieces, then we have to account for anything which is inconsistent with that assumption by saying it is an intended part of the deep design. Mr French asks whether Shakespeare wasn't sometimes frankly opportunist, or couldn't see clearly what he wanted to say, or, having seen it, couldn't bring himself to face its consequences. Hamlet in particular is a failure for reasons which have nothing to do with the hero's famous 'psychology'; Lear is much more disturbing than the redemptivists make it; Othello comes close to being a melodrama; while Antony wavers dangerously in tone and in the seriousness of Shakespeare's involvement. This is not a simple devaluation of the national literary institution. It is a patient attempt at open-mindedness, based on a sense of Shakespeare as profoundly original but also human and therefore fallible.


Book Description


This open-minded study interrogates the notion of Shakespeare's plays as flawless masterpieces.

EAN: 9780521144599

Package Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches

Languages: English