Shakespeares Thought

Unobserved Details and Unsuspected Depths in Eleven Plays

By (author) David Lowenthal

Publication date:

26 April 2017

Length of book:

332 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498537483

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.

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

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.