Beschreibung:
The chapters in Shakespeare and the Body Politic examine the tensions between the passion and ambition of individuals and the limits of the political communities that encompass and inform them. Shakespeare provides his audiences and readers both timely and timeless political lessons through his diverse portraits of the body politic in his plays and poetry–from ancient city-states of Greece and Rome to the early modern cities and kingdoms of his own time.
mate Shakespeare’s corpus, and one of the most prominent is the image of the body. Sketched out in the eternal lines of his plays and poetry, and often drawn in exquisite detail, variations on the body metaphor abound in the works of Shakespeare. Attention to the political dimensions of this metaphor in Shakespeare and the Body Politic permits readers to examine the sentiments of romantic love and family life, the enjoyment of peace, prosperity and justice, and the spirited pursuit of honor and glory as they inevitably emerge within the social, moral, and religious limits of particular political communities. The lessons to be learned from such an examination are both timely and timeless. For the tensions between the desires and pursuits of individuals and the health of the community forge the sinews of every body politic, regardless of the form it may take or even where and when one might encounter it. In his plays and poetry Shakespeare illuminates these tensions within the body politic, which itself constitutes the framework for a flourishing community of human beings and citizens—from the ancient city-states of Greece and Rome to the Christian cities and kingdoms of early modern Europe. The contributors to this volume attend to the political context and role of political actors within the diverse works of Shakespeare that they explore. Their arguments thus exhibit together Shakespeare’s political thought. By examining his plays and poetry with the seriousness they deserve, Shakespeare’s audiences and readers not only discover an education in human and political virtue, but also find themselves written into his lines. Shakespeare’s body of work is indeed politic, and the whole that it forms incorporates us all.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1: Shakespeare and the Body Politic
Bernard J. Dobski and Dustin Gish
Part One: The Heart
Chapter 2: “The Very Heart of Loss”: Love and Politics in Antony and Cleopatra
Joseph Alulis
Chapter 3: Julius Caesar: The Problem of Classical Republicanism
Timothy Burns
Chapter 4: Who is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar?
Nasser Behnegar
Chapter 5: Love, Honor,and Community in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Pamela Jensen
Part Two: The Limbs
Chapter 6: At War ‘Twixt Will and Will Not: Government, Marriage, and Grace
in Measure for Measure
Peter Meilaender
Chapter 7: Trojan Horse or Troilus’ Whore? Pandering Statecraft and Political Stagecraft
in Troilus and Cressida
Nalin Ranasinghe
Chapter 8: Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece: Honor and Republicanism
Robert Schaefer
Chapter 9: Hotspur and Falstaff vs. The Politicians: Shakespeare’s View of Honor
Timothy Spiekerman
Part Three: The Head
Chapter 10: Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, and Philosophy: A Preliminary Inquiry
George Anastaplo
Chapter 11: Taming the Shrew: Shakespeare, Machiavelli, and Political Philosophy
Dustin Gish
Chapter 12: The Education of Edgar in Shakespeare’s King Lear
Laurence D. Nee
Chapter 13: Shakespeare and the Comedy and Tragedy of Liberalism
David K. Nichols
List of Contributors
Index