Shakespeare's Political Pageant: Essays in Politics and Literature

by Joseph Alulis (Editor), Joseph Alulis (Contribution by), Dennis Bathory (Contribution by), Paul A. Cantor University of Virginia (Contribution by), Christopher Colmo (Contribution by)

Overview

Literary works, through their very personal means of characterization, reveal the direct effect of politics on individuals in a way a political treatise cannot. The distinguished contributors to this volume share the belief that Shakespeare is the author who most effectively sets forth the multifarious pageant of politics. Shakespeare's rich canon presents monarchy and republic, tyrant and king, thinker and soldier, and Christian and pagan. The twelve essays in Shakespeare's Political Pageant discuss a broad range of Shakespeare's dramatic poetry from the perspective of the political theorist. This innovative book demonstrates the immense value of seeing Shakespeare's plays in the context of political philosophy. It will be an important source for students and scholars of both political science and literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847682904
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/30/1996
Series:	Studies in Social, Political and Legal Philosophy
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joseph Alulis is lecturer at the Center for Continuing Studies, Basic Program, University of Chicago. Vickie Sullivan is assistant professor of political science at Tufts University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Part 3 Part I: Comedies
Chapter 4 The New Medea: On Portia's Comic Triumph in The Merchant of Venice
Chapter 5 Fathers and Children: Matter, Mirth, and Melancholy in As You Like It
Chapter 6 Wisdom and the Law: Thoughts on the Political Philosophy of Measure for Measure
Chapter 7 The Portrait of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Part 8 Part II: Histories
Chapter 9 Coming Home: The Political Settlement in Shakespeare's King John
Chapter 10 The Education of Hal: Henry IV, Parts One and Two
Chapter 11 Princes to Act: Henry V as the Machiavellian Prince of Appearance
Part 12 Part III: Tragedies. "This is Venice": Politics in Shakespeare's Othello
Chapter 13 King Lear: The Tragic Disjunction of Wisdom and Power
Chapter 14 The Relation of Thought and Action in Macbeth
Chapter 15 Courage and Impotence in Macbeth
Chapter 16 "With Himself at War": Shakespeare's Roman Hero and the Republican Tradition
Chapter 17 Index

What People are Saying About This

Mary P. Nichols

This superb collection of essays on Shakespeare's plays combines rich analysis of dramatic detail with insight into political rule, ambition, and love. By illustrating universal themes in particular political and historical contexts, Shakespeare's Political Pageantdemonstrates Aristotle's claim that poetry is more philosophic than history. Alulis and Sullivan have given us a major contribution to the growing field of politics and literature.

John Alvis

Diverse as these essays are in many respects, they are alike in their assumption that Shakespeare's understanding of human things is inseparable from his understanding of politics. The authors succeed in making Shakespeare's political wisdom manifest because they perceive that the plays convey his knowledge not in isolated speeches but through action and speech so concerted as to guide us through a dramatic argument.

Editorial Reviews

In every case the close reading is beautifully subordinated to the major claim of the essay. Because diverse details anyone who teaches these plays or directs them on stage will appreciate this collection's emphasis on formal coherence.

Shakespeare Quarterly - Ian MacInnes

The essays. .. interpret Shakespeare's plays in refreshingly broad contexts of political philosophy rather than within the comparatively narrow limits of politics defined by cultural materialists and new historists. The collection offers at once spacious and penetrating readings.

Arthur Kirsch

. . . each essay contributes to the reader's understanding of Shakespeare's view of human life in its various endeavors.

Perspectives on Political Science

Diverse as these essays are in many respects, they are alike in their assumption that Shakespeare's understanding of human things is inseparable from his understanding of politics. The authors succeed in making Shakespeare's political wisdom manifest because they perceive that the plays convey his knowledge not in isolated speeches but through action and speech so concerted as to guide us through a dramatic argument.

John Alvis

This superb collection of essays on Shakespeare's plays combines rich analysis of dramatic detail with insight into political rule, ambition, and love. By illustrating universal themes in particular political and historical contexts, Shakespeare's Political Pageantdemonstrates Aristotle's claim that poetry is more philosophic than history. Alulis and Sullivan have given us a major contribution to the growing field of politics and literature.

Mary P. Nichols

. . . each essay contributes to the reader's understanding of Shakespeare's view of human life in its various endeavors.

Perspectives On Political Science