| Shakespearean Metaphysics Contributor(s): Witmore, Michael (Author), Fernie, Ewan (Editor), Palfrey, Simon (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0826490433 ISBN-13: 9780826490438 Publisher: Continuum OUR PRICE: $148.50 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2008 Annotation: A fresh approach to the plays that suggests they can be seen as metaphysical 'experiments' conducted in the medium of drama. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Shakespeare - Philosophy | Metaphysics - Drama | Shakespeare |
| Dewey: 822.33 |
| LCCN: 2008300844 |
| Series: Shakespeare Now! |
| Physical Information: 0.44" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.73 lbs) 156 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Metaphysics is usually associated with that part of the philosophical tradition which asks about last things, questions such as: How many substances are there in the world? Which is more fundamental, quantity or quality? Are events prior to things? Or do they happen to those things? While he wasn't a philosopher, Shakespeare was obviously interested in ultimates of this sort. Instead of probing these issues with argument, however, he did so with plays. Shakespearean Metaphysics argues for Shakespeare's inclusion within a metaphysical tradition that opposes empiricism and Cartesian dualism. Through close readings of three major plays-The Tempest, King Lear and Twelfth Night-Witmore proposes that Shakespeare's manner of depicting life on stage itself constitutes an answer to metaphysical questions raised by later thinkers as Spinoza, Bergson, and Whitehead. Each of these readings shifts the interpretative frame around the plays in radical ways; taken together they show the limits of our understanding of theatrical play as an illusion generated by the physical circumstances of production. |