Shakespeare and Republicanism

New
Paperback
2008
$44.77

This groundbreaking work, first published in 2005, reveals exactly how Shakespeare was influenced by contemporary strands in political thought that were critical of the English crown and constitution. Shakespeare has often been seen as a conservative political thinker characterised by an over-riding fear of the 'mob'. Hadfield argues instead that Shakespeare's writing emerged out of an intellectual milieu fascinated by republican ideas. From the 1590s onwards, he explored republican themes in his poetry and plays: political assassination, elected government, alternative constitutions, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the problem of power without responsibility. Beginning with Shakespeare's apocalyptic representation of civil war in the Henry VI plays, Hadfield provides a series of powerful new readings of Shakespeare and his time. For anyone interested in Shakespeare and Renaissance culture, this book is required reading.

Synopsis

This groundbreaking work, first published in 2005, reveals exactly how Shakespeare was influenced by contemporary strands in political thought that were critical of the English crown and constitution. Shakespeare has often been seen as a conservative political thinker characterised by an over-riding fear of the 'mob'. Hadfield argues instead that Shakespeare's writing emerged out of an intellectual milieu fascinated by republican ideas. From the 1590s onwards, he explored republican themes in his poetry and plays: political assassination, elected government, alternative constitutions, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the problem of power without responsibility. Beginning with Shakespeare's apocalyptic representation of civil war in the Henry VI plays, Hadfield provides a series of powerful new readings of Shakespeare and his time. For anyone interested in Shakespeare and Renaissance culture, this book is required reading.

$44.77

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 380
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08 May 2008
ISBN 10: 0521718007
ISBN 13: 9780521718004
Book Overview: This highly praised book, first published in 2005, reveals how political thought critical of the government underpins Shakespeare's writing.

Media Reviews

'... scintillating study ... This challenging, innovative book should permanently transform the way we think about Shakespeare's politics.' The Times Literary Supplement
'groundbreaking study ... His convincing argument subverts assumptions concerning the political orthodoxy of Shakespeare.' John King, Literature and History
'This brilliant reading comes just when we thought there was nothing more to be said about Shakespeare and politics.' Peter Holbrook, The Review of English Studies
'The suggestive power of Shakespeare and Republicanism lies in the seriousness with which it links Shakespeare's stories, characters and themes to intellectual and political ideas.' Heather James, Shakespeare Quarterly
'Hadfield has performed a valuable service in urging us to think again about how and why Englishmen learned to think of themselves as citizens, and mapping out some of the textual routes by which they arrived at that destination.' Anne McLaren, Textual Practice
'...Hadfield's effort to uncover in Shakespeare elements of a submerged English republican tradition is a worthy, useful and often interesting project.' CLIO
...clearly written and densely documented...M.W. Tillyard's Shakespeare is dead; long live Hadfield's!...Essential. All readers; all collections. CHOICE, A. DiMatteo, New York Institute of Technology
Andrew Hadfield's important and learned new book, Shakespeare and Republicanism, offers up a slate of bold, interlocking arguments ... [which] will be at once bracing and controversial, and so the book will be widely read and widely discussed by both literary scholars and historians. Early Modern Literary Studies, Curtis Perry, Arizona State University

Author Bio

Adrew Hadfield is Professor of English at the University of Sussex.