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 xvi
... stages , Helen Vendler and Christopher Ricks . They not only offered me warm interest and approval of what I had tried to do but gave my manuscript scrupulous reading and provided suggestions for im- provement or development . Such ...
... stages , Helen Vendler and Christopher Ricks . They not only offered me warm interest and approval of what I had tried to do but gave my manuscript scrupulous reading and provided suggestions for im- provement or development . Such ...
Page 5
... stage has ever known . Through the action and language of the plays he invites his audiences to question , from moment to moment , the inherited , standard truths of his time . He also allows his audiences to view fearfully the results ...
... stage has ever known . Through the action and language of the plays he invites his audiences to question , from moment to moment , the inherited , standard truths of his time . He also allows his audiences to view fearfully the results ...
Page 18
... stage in the stock figure of the scheming " Machiavel , " although publication of an English edition of The Prince did not take place until 1636. But handwritten copies of inaccurate translations traveled from reader to reader be- fore ...
... stage in the stock figure of the scheming " Machiavel , " although publication of an English edition of The Prince did not take place until 1636. But handwritten copies of inaccurate translations traveled from reader to reader be- fore ...
Page 20
... stage a year before the book was out and for sale . Hamlet adds more words to Shakespeare's known vocabulary that also are in Florio — even a slightly greater number than is the case with King Lear . In Ben Jonson's Volpone ( 1605 ) ...
... stage a year before the book was out and for sale . Hamlet adds more words to Shakespeare's known vocabulary that also are in Florio — even a slightly greater number than is the case with King Lear . In Ben Jonson's Volpone ( 1605 ) ...
Page 29
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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