Shakespeare's Thought: Unobserved Details and Unsuspected Depths in Eleven Plays

by David Lowenthal

Overview

Shakespeare’s Thought: Unobserved Details and Unsuspected Depths in Eleven Plays demonstrates that Shakespeare’s plays were conceived and executed as studies of great moral and political issues. After examining the divergent views of critics across the years, this book goes on to analyze eleven of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, observing details and supplying interpretations that indicate the depth of his mind and the full extent of his artistic spirit. This book offers an in-depth exploration of the ways in which each play demonstrates Shakespeare’s political thought and his poetic genius.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498537506
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	03/23/2018
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David Lowenthal is D'Alzon Professor of Political Science at Assumption College.

Table of Contents

1. Shakespeare and the Critics
2. The Tempest
3. King Lear
4. Julius Caesar
5. The Merchant of Venice
6. Macbeth
7. Measure for Measure
8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
9. Romeo and Juliet
10. Henry V
11. Hamlet
12. As You Like It
13. The Greatness of Coriolanu
14. Betrayals for Love in Antony and Cleopatra

Editorial Reviews

Lowenthal deftly shows that Shakespeare, more a poet and dramatist than philosopher, was deeply interested in some fundamental issues of moral and political life, in such a way that his astonishing achievements in plot, character, and poetic utterance can best be understood as emanating from the particular issue or issues that each play explores. Like Harold Goddard, Lowenthal is not afraid to talk about 'meaning'; like Harold Bloom, he offers a countervailing argument to trends in current theoretical criticism.

David Bevington David Bevington

David Lowenthal’s career as a scholar and a teacher has been dedicated, in no small part, to exploring the human and political wisdom afforded by the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare. This book bears the fruit of that career. With its graceful prose, trenchant insights, and seemingly panoptic grasp of the Bard’s plays, Shakespeare’s Thought: Unobserved Details and Unsuspected Depths allows us to appreciate more deeply the joy and wonder that comes with learning how to live well from Shakespeare, an education for which his best students prepare us.

Bernard J. Dobski

Lowenthal deftly shows that Shakespeare, more a poet and dramatist than philosopher, was deeply interested in some fundamental issues of moral and political life, in such a way that his astonishing achievements in plot, character, and poetic utterance can best be understood as emanating from the particular issue or issues that each play explores. Like Harold Goddard, Lowenthal is not afraid to talk about 'meaning'; like Harold Bloom, he offers a countervailing argument to trends in current theoretical criticism.

David Bevington