Play, Death, and Heroism in Shakespeare

by Kirby Farrell

Overview

Using a combination of anthropological and psychoanalytic methods, Farrell relates the fantasies of "play-death" to the Renaissance belief that through self-effacement an individual may achieve autonomy in the family and society. Farrell develops a wide-ranging analysis of cultural responses to the human dread of death and makes Shakespeare's art a lens that brings into unusually sharp focus Renaissance social structure, gender relations, ideology, and religion.

Originally published in 1989.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition — UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807865385
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	06/01/2012
Series:	Enduring Editions
Edition description:	1
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Kirby Farrell is professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This book deals with the concept of play-death from the level of playing dead, through death in plays, to the cultural responses to death and their relationship to heroic values. Using both anthropological and psychoanalytic approaches, the author attempts to analyze a variety of Shakespearean texts with a simulation of death, 'a rhythm of play-death and resurrection or heroic apotheosis' as their common factor. . . . The result is thought-provoking.—Choice

Editorial Reviews

"This book deals with the concept of play-death from the level of playing dead, through death in plays, to the cultural responses to death and their relationship to heroic values. Using both anthropological and psychoanalytic approaches, the author attempts to analyze a variety of Shakespearean texts with a simulation of death, 'a rhythm of play-death and resurrection or heroic apotheosis' as their common factor. . . . The result is thought-provoking."--"Choice"

From the Publisher