Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries

Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Total Pages : 326
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780191609183
ISBN-13 : 0191609188
Rating : 4/5 (188 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries by : Eric Langley

Download or read book Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries written by Eric Langley and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-11-12 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subjects of this book are the subjects whose subjects are themselves. Narcissus so himself himself forsook, And died to kiss his shadow in the brook. In accusing the introspective Adonis of narcissistic self-absorption, Shakespeare's Venus employs a geminative construction - 'himself himself' - that provides a keynote for this study of Renaissance reflexive subjectivity. Through close analysis of a number of Shakespearean texts - including Venus and Adonis, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Othello - his book illustrates how radical self-reflection is expressed on the Renaissance page and stage, and how representations of the two seemingly extreme figures of the narcissist and self-slaughterer are indicative of early-modern attitudes to introspection. Encompassing a broad range of philosophical, theological, poetic, and dramatic texts, this study examines period descriptions of the early-modern subject characterised by the rhetoric of reciprocation and reflection. The narcissist and the self-slaughter provide models of dialogic but self-destructive identity where private interiority is articulated in terms of self-response, but where this geminative isolation is understood as self-defeating, both selfish and suicidal. The study includes work on Renaissance revisions of Ovid, classical attitudes to suicide, the rhetoric of friendship literature, discussion of early-modern optic theory, and an extended discussion of narcissism in the epyllia tradition. Sustained textual analysis offers new readings of major Shakespearean texts, allowing familiar works of literature to be seen from the unusual and anti-social perspectives of their narcissistic and suicidal protagonists.


Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries Related Books

Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
Language: en
Pages: 326
Authors: Eric Langley
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-11-12 - Publisher: OUP Oxford

GET EBOOK

The subjects of this book are the subjects whose subjects are themselves. Narcissus so himself himself forsook, And died to kiss his shadow in the brook. In acc
Shakespeare / Sex
Language: en
Pages: 345
Authors: Jennifer Drouin
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-11-12 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

GET EBOOK

Shakespeare / Sex interrogates the relationship between Shakespeare and sex by challenging readers to consider Shakespeare's texts in light of the most recent t
Pity and Identity in the Age of Shakespeare
Language: en
Pages: 244
Authors: Toria Johnson
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021 - Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

GET EBOOK

Exploring a wide range of material including dramatic works, medieval morality drama, and lyric poetry this book argues for the central significance of literary
Shakespearean Inside
Language: en
Pages: 256
Authors: Marcus Nordlund
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-12-05 - Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

GET EBOOK

The Shakespearean Inside is a study of all soliloquies and solo asides (dubbed "e;insides"e; for short) in Shakespeare's complete plays. The first step
Joy of the Worm
Language: en
Pages: 288
Authors: Drew Daniel
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2022-05-02 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

GET EBOOK

Consulting an extensive archive of early modern literature, Joy of the Worm asserts that voluntary death in literature is not always a matter of tragedy. In thi