The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem PlaysWhat is it that makes Shakespeare’s problem plays problematic? Many critics have sought for the underlying vision or message of these puzzling and disturbing dramas. Originally published in 1987, the key to Viv Thomas’s new synthesis of the plays is the idea of fracture and dissolution in the universe. From the collapse of ‘degree’ in Troilus and Cressida to the corruption at the heart of innocence in Measure for Measure, to the puzzling status of virtue and valour in All’s Well, the most obvious feature of these plays in their capacity to prompt new questions. In a detailed discussion of each play in turn, the author traces the dominant themes that both distinguish and unite them, and provides numerous insights into the sources, background, texture and morality of the plays. |
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... Measure for Measure 3. The Fractured Universe: Wholeness and Division in Troilus and Cressida 4. Virtue and Honour in All's Well that Ends Well 5. Order and Authority in Measure for Measure 6. Conclusion Bibliography Index To my mother ...
... Measure for Measure edited by J. W. Lever. References to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde are from Nevill Coghill's Penguin edition. All other quotations and references to Shakespeare's source materials are drawn from Geoffrey Bullough's ...
... Measure for Measure is dark and bitter. In the first edition of this work I did not venture to attempt an interpretation of Troilus and Cressida. I now believe this strange and difficult play was a last attempt to continue comedy made ...
... Measure for Measure, Dowden feels, but he insists on a close affinity between Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens: 'we must notice a striking resemblance in its spirit and structure to Timon of Athens'. 3 No modern scholar would ...
... Measure for Measure). What Boas fails to do is to convince the reader that Hamlet really falls into the group. His main point is that the atmosphere of obscurity which envelops these plays 'closes most thickly round Hamlet'. 6 Not only ...
Contents
Wholeness and Division in Troilus and Cressida | |
Virtue and Honour in Alls Well that Ends Well | |
Order and Authority in Measure for Measure | |
Conclusion | |
Bibliography | |