Shakespeare's Tragic SkepticismReaders of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies have long noted the absence of readily explainable motivations for some of Shakespeare's greatest characters: why does Hamlet delay his revenge for so long? Why does King Lear choose to renounce his power? Why is Othello so vulnerable to Iago's malice? But while many critics have chosen to overlook these omissions or explain them away, Millicent Bell demonstrates that they are essential elements of Shakespeare's philosophy of doubt. Examining the major tragedies, Millicent Bell reveals the persistent strain of philosophical skepticism. Like his contemporary, Montaigne, Shakespeare repeatedly calls attention to the essential unknowability of our world. In a period of social, political, and religious upheaval, uncertainty hovered over matters great and small--the succession of the crown, the death of loved ones from plague, the failure of a harvest. Tumultuous social conditions raised ultimate questions for Shakespeare, Bell argues, and ultimately provoked in him a skepticism which casts shadows of existential doubt over his greatest masterpieces. |
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Page x
... Montaigne , his near - contemporary , not only general doubts of what had long been assumed about the universe and mankind but also doubt con- cerning the reliability of our own power to perceive and conclude anything . Montaigne's ...
... Montaigne , his near - contemporary , not only general doubts of what had long been assumed about the universe and mankind but also doubt con- cerning the reliability of our own power to perceive and conclude anything . Montaigne's ...
Page xvi
... Montaigne's Essays and Plutarch's Par- allel Lives , both of which he knew in contemporary English trans- lations , and Raphael Holinshed's historical chronicles of English and Scottish history . I have chosen to quote from John ...
... Montaigne's Essays and Plutarch's Par- allel Lives , both of which he knew in contemporary English trans- lations , and Raphael Holinshed's historical chronicles of English and Scottish history . I have chosen to quote from John ...
Page 4
... Montaigne . Montaigne's curiously moving , often evasive , often self - revelatory confessions of alternating belief and unbelief are not merely a feature of his response to the dogmas of his religion . They are duplicated in his ...
... Montaigne . Montaigne's curiously moving , often evasive , often self - revelatory confessions of alternating belief and unbelief are not merely a feature of his response to the dogmas of his religion . They are duplicated in his ...
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... Montaigne's or Bayle's , dialectic or dialogic . It pits an idea against its opposite . It looks to me as though Shakespeare — writ- ing as he did at a time of cultural crisis when old convictions and new doubts were contending in men's ...
... Montaigne's or Bayle's , dialectic or dialogic . It pits an idea against its opposite . It looks to me as though Shakespeare — writ- ing as he did at a time of cultural crisis when old convictions and new doubts were contending in men's ...
Page 12
... Montaigne claimed that he had been prompted to this task by the threat to his Catholic faith of Lutheranism - to which Sebond's writing was a response . But when Montaigne came to write the longest and most famous of his essays , which ...
... Montaigne claimed that he had been prompted to this task by the threat to his Catholic faith of Lutheranism - to which Sebond's writing was a response . But when Montaigne came to write the longest and most famous of his essays , which ...
Contents
Hamlet Revenge | 29 |
Othellos Jealousy | 80 |
Unaccommodated Lear | 138 |
Macbeths Deeds | 191 |
The Roman Frame | 241 |
Selected Bibliography | 279 |
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action actor ambiguous ambition Antony and Cleopatra Antony's appears asks audience Banquo blood Brabantio Brutus called Cassio cause character Claudius Cordelia crime daughters death deed denies Desdemona doubt dramatic Duncan Edgar Edmund Emilia expressed faith false father feel fideism Florio Folio Fool Fortinbras fourth act ghost Gloucester Goneril Hamlet hath hear Holinshed Horatio human Iago Iago's idea identity imagination jealousy Julius Caesar Kent killed King Lear Lady Macbeth Laertes lago Lear's Macduff Machiavellian madness Malcolm marriage meaning mind Montaigne Montaigne's motive murder nature never observed Ophelia Othello philosophic skepticism play's playwright plot Plutarch Polonius prophecy Quarto reference Regan reminds revenge Roderigo role Roman royal says scene seems selfhood sense sexual Shake Shakespeare Shakespeare's play skepticism social soliloquy someone speaks speare's stage story suggested tells theater theatrical things thou thought tion tragedy tragic trial true truth witchcraft witches word