About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherRoutledge

ISBN-101412808731

ISBN-139781412808736

eBay Product ID (ePID)66837616

Product Key Features

Number of Pages332 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameBargains with Fate : Psychological Crises and Conflicts in Shakespeare and His Plays

SubjectSociology / General, Shakespeare, General, Subjects & Themes / General

Publication Year2009

TypeTextbook

AuthorBernard J. Paris

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Social Science

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Weight16 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN2008-029174

Reviews". . . a powerful new study of Shakespeare's four great tragedies and of the man himself. These are original and strong readings in which a picture of Shakespeare's personality emerges that is clear and convincing." --Norman Holland, University of Florida "Paris unashamedly and insightfully celebrates Shakespeare's capacity for a mimetic, psychologically rich and complex representation of character . . . . Furthermore, he uses his investigations of the plays to speculate about Shakespeare the author and his psychological development . . . . he addresses his book primarily to 'students and lovers of Shakespeare,' to . . . those 'who are interested in literature as a source of psychological insight,' even 'self-understanding and growth.' Indeed, anyone who counts himself or herself in one of these categories will be enlightened--and delighted--by this book." --Margret Schaefer, Psychoanalytic Books, Vol. 5 " . . . a delight to read, both for concentrating on the psychology of the major characters--an astonishingly underrepresented aspect of modern Shakespeare studies--and for the many brilliant and altogether convincing points Paris has to make." --Paul Bertram, Rutgers University

Dewey Edition22

Dewey Decimal822.3/3

SynopsisThe enduring appeal of Shakespeare's works derives largely from the fact that they contain brilliantly drawn characters. Interpretations of these characters are products of changing modes of thought, and thus past explanations of their behavior, including Shakespeare's, no longer satisfy us. In this work, Bernard J. Paris, an eminent Shakespearean scholar, shows how Shakespeare endowed his tragic heroes with enduring human qualities that have made them relevant to people of later eras.Bargains with Fate employs a psychoanalytic approach inspired by the theories of Karen Horney to analyze Shakespeare's four major tragedies and the personality that can be inferred from all of his works. This compelling study first examines the tragedies as dramas about individuals with conflicts like our own who are in a state of crisis due to the breakdown of their bargains with fate, a belief that they can magically control their destinies by living up to the dictates of their defensive strategies.Filled with bold hypotheses supported by carefully detailed accounts, this innovative study is a resource for students and scholars of Shakespeare, and for those interested in literature as a source of psychological insight. The author's combination of literary and psychoanalytic perspectives guides us to a humane understanding of Shakespeare and his protagonists, and, in turn, to a more profound knowledge of ourselves and human behavior., The enduring appeal of Shakespeare's works derives largely from the fact that they contain brilliantly drawn characters. The author's combination of literary and psychoanalytic perspectives guides us to a humane understanding of Shakespeare and his protagonists, and, in turn, to a more profound knowledge of ourselves and human behavior.

LC Classification NumberPR3065.P37 2008