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 x
... stories out of the strange sequences of episode and language that actually present them- selves . But those plausible stories , those familiar ideas that reassur- ingly " make sense " of experience for the majority of mankind in each ...
... stories out of the strange sequences of episode and language that actually present them- selves . But those plausible stories , those familiar ideas that reassur- ingly " make sense " of experience for the majority of mankind in each ...
Page xiii
... story . " Accord- ing to Booth , Shakespeare demonstrates in his treatment of char- acter " the impossibility of definition , " and that " all human percep- tion of pattern is folly ” —and yet manages to assert pattern and order through ...
... story . " Accord- ing to Booth , Shakespeare demonstrates in his treatment of char- acter " the impossibility of definition , " and that " all human percep- tion of pattern is folly ” —and yet manages to assert pattern and order through ...
Page 22
... story in which one thing leads to another . Yet criticism , as one knows , often rewrites , failing to see what it ... stories by leaving his charac- ters without motive . Hamlet's delay in executing revenge ; Othello's exaggerated ...
... story in which one thing leads to another . Yet criticism , as one knows , often rewrites , failing to see what it ... stories by leaving his charac- ters without motive . Hamlet's delay in executing revenge ; Othello's exaggerated ...
Page 23
... stories upon which each of these plays was based gave answers and explanations Shakespeare did not reach for ? Shakespeare , it would seem , liked to reduce rather than fortify the circumstances that explain what his characters do , and ...
... stories upon which each of these plays was based gave answers and explanations Shakespeare did not reach for ? Shakespeare , it would seem , liked to reduce rather than fortify the circumstances that explain what his characters do , and ...
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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