Shakespeare's Symmetries: The Mirrored Structure of Action in the Plays

by James E. Ryan

Overview

The organization of Shakespeare's plays has challenged, even baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. Cymbeline has been dismissed as "incoherent." Hamlet "is of no clear shape." And Antony and Cleopatra "bewilders the mind."

These judgments result from an incomplete understanding of Shakespeare's constructive practice. It is not the narrative arc alone that organizes the plays but a complex structure of interwoven narrative and thematic actions. While the narrative varies from play to play, thematic actions are invariably created in mirroring pairs around the central scene: A-B-C-B-A.

This symmetrical pattern, which can be visualized as an arch with a focal keystone, is the foundation of all of Shakespeare's mature work, as shown through an analysis of the 26 plays in this book. This arch illuminates the structure of plays that have long been puzzling, demonstrating that they are thematically organized and rigorously crafted. It also reveals subtleties otherwise invisible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476624167
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/27/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James Ryan has taught at the University of Cincinnati and Dominican College (Orangeburg, New York), and has been awarded the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Fellowship in poetry. His essays on Shakespeare have appeared in The Shakespeare Newsletter and Shakespeare Studies, the English-language journal of the Japan Shakespeare Society.
James Ryan has taught at the University of Cincinnati and Dominican College (Orangeburg, New York), and has been awarded the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Fellowship in poetry. His essays on Shakespeare have appeared in The Shakespeare Newsletter and Shakespeare Studies, the English-language journal of the Japan Shakespeare Society.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Part One: The Chiastic Design
1. The Chiastic Design
2. Isolating the Chiastic Design
3. Shakespeare’s Scene Division
4. Shakespeare in Nine Scenes
5. Richard II: Thematic Arch and Imagery
6. The Merchant of Venice: Thematic Arch, Scene Division and Imagery
Part Two: Reading the Chiastic Design
7. The Thematic Arch of Julius Caesar: Sacrifice
8. The Construction (and Catholicism) of King John
9. Henry IV: The Structural Similarity of Parts One and Two
10. The Thematic Arch of The Merry Wives of Windsor: ­Role-Playing
11. Instinct and Artifice in As You Like It
12. The Thematic Arch of Henry V
13. The Anomalous Arch of Hamlet
14. The Stories in Troilus and Cressida
15. The Thematic Arch of All’s Well That Ends Well: Hubris and Humiliation
16. Act Division and Feeding Actions in Othello
17. The Thematic Arch of Folio King Lear: Evidence for the Quarto as a Draft
18. The Thematic Arch of Macbeth: Reconsidering Hecate
19. The Triple Arch of Antony and Cleopatra
20. The Thematic Arch of Coriolanus: Action and Eloquence
21. The Thematic Arch of Cymbeline: Sacrifice
22. The Parallel Plays of The Winter’s Tale: Entertainment
23. The Thematic Arch of The Tempest: A Hand for Prospero
Appendix: Narrative Analyses
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index