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. |
From inside the book
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... gives careful consideration to the comments of his predecessors, removes Hamlet from the group and attempts greater precision in delineating their fundamental features: The essential characteristic of a problem play ... is that a ...
... unintentionally devalues the ethical dilemmas to which these plays give rise: all is explained by simply acquiring the perspective of Shakespeare's (assumed) audience. E. M. W. Tillyard's study, Shakespeare's Problem Plays, published in.
... gives us a 'tragedy-of-love' pattern that is not tragic (nor love?); All's Well a 'happy ending' that makes us neither happy nor comfortable; Measure for Measure a 'final solution' that simply does not answer the questions raised.16 ...
... give rise, Lawrence goes on to argue that there would have been no such diversity of response in an Elizabethan audience. Hence Schanzer says of Lawrence, 'His concept of the Problem Play and his view of the proper interpretation of the ...
... gives to the audience the feeling that 'everything's going to be all right after all.' Such plays illustrate what we have been calling the myth of deliverance, a sense of energies released by forgiveness and reconciliation, where Eros ...
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 | |