Worldly Shakespeare : the theatre of our good will / Richard Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Richard, 1950- author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Criticism and interpretation.

Worldliness.

Physical Description:

303 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

Summary:

A powerful new study of the plays in light of current debates about globalisation, free speech and toleration, What was Shakespeare thinking when the players named their 'wide and universal theatre' the Globe? In Worldly Shakespeare: The Theatre of Our Good Will, Richard Wilson situates this play-acting in the context of current concerns about the difference between globalisation and true 'mondialisation'. Shakespeare was 'thinking the world' as a planetary drama without catharsis, Wilson suggests, and anticipating agonistic philosophers like Jacques Rancière and Slavoj Zizek, who insist the essence of democracy Is dissent, and 'the presence of two worlds in one'. Shakespeare's worldliness consists of the right to give, but not to take offence, Worldly Shakespeare argues. So his plays stage the qualified toleration pictured by Velázquez, when he painted Catholics and Protestants embracing amidst their weapons. Living out his scenario of the guest who destroys the host, by welcoming the religious fanatic, paranoid queen, veiled woman and even terrorist into his play-world, Wilson concludes, Shakespeare provides a pretext for our own globalised communities in rimes of Facebook and fatwa, as we also come to depend on the right to offend, 'with our good will'. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 A Globe of Sinful Continents: Shakespeare Thinks the World 32

2 Too Long for a Play: Shakespeare and the Wars of Religion 53

3 Shakespeare in Hate: Performing the Virgin Queen 73

4 No Enemy But Winter: Shakespeare's Rogue State 94

5 Fools of Time: Shakespeare and the Martyrs 125

6 Veiling an Indian Beauty: Shakespeare and the Hijab 148

7 When. Golden Time Convenes: Shakespeare and the Shah 172

8 Like an Olympian Wrestling: Shakespeare's Olympic Game 202

9 As Mice by Lions: Political Theology and Measure for Measure 224

10 Incensing Relics: All's Well That Ends Well in Shakespeare's Spain 247.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1474411347

9781474411349

1474411320

9781474411325

OCLC:

941734723