Shakespeare's Tragic SkepticismReaders 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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Page 18
... Machiavelli , like Montaigne , always professed belief in God , but he challenged the view that politics was an ... Machiavelli directly as Francis Bacon and Walter Raleigh did , but he would have absorbed a Machiavelli influence from ...
... Machiavelli , like Montaigne , always professed belief in God , but he challenged the view that politics was an ... Machiavelli directly as Francis Bacon and Walter Raleigh did , but he would have absorbed a Machiavelli influence from ...
Page 19
Millicent Bell. beth , in all of whom Machiavelli's ideas about politic conduct and the way to power are reflected . One can hardly doubt that Shakespeare heard speculative dis- cussions in London stimulated by a new interest in the ...
Millicent Bell. beth , in all of whom Machiavelli's ideas about politic conduct and the way to power are reflected . One can hardly doubt that Shakespeare heard speculative dis- cussions in London stimulated by a new interest in the ...
Page 21
... , Macbeth is farthest from Montaigne's cheerfully stoic mood — yet this dark and mysterious work , as I shall try to show , may be an outcome of Montaigne's skepticism — and of Machiavelli's correlative cynicism - pushed to Introduction 21.
... , Macbeth is farthest from Montaigne's cheerfully stoic mood — yet this dark and mysterious work , as I shall try to show , may be an outcome of Montaigne's skepticism — and of Machiavelli's correlative cynicism - pushed to Introduction 21.
Page 22
Millicent Bell. skepticism — and of Machiavelli's correlative cynicism - pushed to an excruciating intensity that annihilates in particular the linkage of cause and effect , human selfhood and act . It is because I want to identify such ...
Millicent Bell. skepticism — and of Machiavelli's correlative cynicism - pushed to an excruciating intensity that annihilates in particular the linkage of cause and effect , human selfhood and act . It is because I want to identify such ...
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Contents
Hamlet Revenge | 29 |
Othellos Jealousy | 80 |
Unaccommodated Lear | 138 |
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 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 Holinshed 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 Roman 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