Shakespeare's unreformed fictions / Gillian Woods.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woods, Gillian, 1979-

Series:

Oxford English monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Criticism and interpretation.

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama.

Physical Description:

ix, 239 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

In exploring the dramaturgical variety of the "Catholic" content of Shakespeare's plays, Gillian Woods argues that habits, idioms, images, and ideas lose their denominational clarity when translated into dramatic fiction: they are awkwardly "unreformed" rather than doctrinally Catholic. Providing nuanced readings of generically diverse plays, this book emphasises the creative function of such unreformed material, which Shakespeare uses to pose questions about the relationship between self and other. A wealth of contextual evidence is studied, including catechisms, homilies, religious polemics, news quartos, and non-Shakespearean drama, to highlight how early modern Catholicism variously provoked nostalgia, faith, conversion, humour, fear, and hatred. This book argues that Shakespeare exploits these contradictory attitudes to frame ethical problems, creating fictional plays that consciously engage audiences in the difficult leaps of faith required by both theatre and theology. By recognizing the playfulness of Shakespeare's unreformed fictions, this book offers a different perspective on the interactions between post-Reformation religion and the theatre, and an alternative angle on Shakespeare's interrogation of the scope of dramatic fiction. -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Incorporating the Past in 1 Henry VI 25

2 Converting Names in Love's Labour's Lost 58

3 Seeming Difference in Measure for Measure and All's Well that Ends Well 90

4 Affecting Possession in King Lear 133

5 Knowing Fiction in The Winter's Tale 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-232) and index.

ISBN:

9780199671267

0199671265

OCLC:

825735555