Shakespeare's promises / by William Kerrigan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kerrigan, William, 1943-

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Ethics.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Ethics.

Didactic drama, English--History and criticism.

Didactic drama, English.

Promises--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Promises.

Promises in literature.

Swearing in literature.

Ethics in literature.

Oaths in literature.

Vows in literature.

Physical Description:

xviii, 243 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Summary:

"It is impossible to imagine any kind of moral life without obligations, and impossible to imagine obligations without types of promises. We are always up against them. Before we ever reflect on what a promise is, we have made them, and are expected to make more of them. We are born into nations that enter into treaties and agreements. Promises are with us like gravity. Man is a promising animal." -- from Shakespeare's Promises

Oaths, vows, contracts, and promises are among the most momentous actions human beings can perform, in art as well as life. Although virtually ignored by literary theorists, these obligations motivate plots, test characters, provide rhetorical occasions, structure ironies, and open thematic horizons. According to William Kerrigan, they had particular importance for Shakespeare, who wrote at a decisive moment in the history of promising, toward the end of its High Christian phase and near the beginning of its metaphysically lessened, though still central, role in the "contractual" state. Motivating his plots and supplying his characters with lofty rhetorical occasions, Shakespeare gave promising great dramatic life. More than that, promises made and kept "in good faith" reside at the heart of his idealism. Yet he also explores the ways in which promising and morality, for a variety of reasons, part company.

Shakespeare's Promises is the first book to treat this subject with the amplitude it deserves. After a discussion of promises in philosophy, law, psychology, politics, language, and ordinary life, Kerrigan moves on to detailed studies of Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and Othello, concluding with a brief visit to the swearing scene in Hamlet.

"Thisis a critical book on Shakespeare that is fascinating to read. Kerrigan is wonderfully in control of his subject, and his writing is vigorous and excellent. It is very engaging for general readers of Shakespeare, particularly those interested in The Merchant of Venice, Othello, or the early history plays." -- Maurice Charney, Rutgers University

Contents:

1 The Promising Animal 1

2 The Truth of an Oath and the Bias of the World 49

3 Obligation in Venice 92

4 Ironic Vows 151.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [213]-235) and index.

ISBN:

0801861632

OCLC:

40753270