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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... interpretation of Troilus and Cressida. I now believe this strange and difficult play was a last attempt to continue comedy made when Shakespeare had ceased to be able to smile genially, and when he must be either ironical, or else take ...
... interpret their enigmas as best we may. Dramas so singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies or tragedies. We may therefore borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of today and class them together as ...
... interpretations.8 Here the problems in the plays are seen as perplexing, and open to varying ethical interpretations. Moreover, the problems may be abstract but they are embodied in and acted out through tensions encountered by the ...
... interpretations affect only a modern audience. Shakespeare's audience, Lawrence claims, would have possessed a familiarity with the conventions and assumptions embodied in the plays and therefore would not have experienced the ...
... interpretations; the replacement of the strain of occasional melancholy which is found even in Shakespeare's most festive comedies by an urgently satirical and disfiguring temper; a willingness even in comedy to draw near to pain and ...
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 | |