Shakespeare’s Speculative Art [electronic resource] /
Hunt, M.author.
This is the first book-length analysis of Shakespeare s depiction of specula (mirrors) to reveal the literal and allegorical functions of mirrors in the playwright s art and thought. Adding a new dimension to the plays Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Henry the Fifth, Love s Labor s Lost, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and All s Well That Ends Well, Maurice A. Hunt also references mirrors in a wide range of external sources, from the Bible to demonic practices. Looking at the concept of speculation through its multiple meanings - cognitive, philosophical, hypothetical, and provisional - this original reading suggests Shakespeare as a craftsman so prescient and careful in his art that he was able to criticize the queen and a former patron with such impunity that he could still live as a gentleman.
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Speculative understanding and ignorance in Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, and MacBeth -- Holding up drama as an ideal mirror in Hamlet and the life of King Henry the fifth -- Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in John Lyly's comedies -- Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in Love's labor's lost -- A speculative political allegory in A midsummer night's dream -- Mirroring the Earl of Southampton in All's well that ends well.
This is the first book-length analysis of Shakespeare s depiction of specula (mirrors) to reveal the literal and allegorical functions of mirrors in the playwright s art and thought. Adding a new dimension to the plays Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Henry the Fifth, Love s Labor s Lost, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and All s Well That Ends Well, Maurice A. Hunt also references mirrors in a wide range of external sources, from the Bible to demonic practices. Looking at the concept of speculation through its multiple meanings - cognitive, philosophical, hypothetical, and provisional - this original reading suggests Shakespeare as a craftsman so prescient and careful in his art that he was able to criticize the queen and a former patron with such impunity that he could still live as a gentleman.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Literature, Modern.
Poetry.
British literature.
Theater.
Early Modern/Renaissance Literature.
Poetry and Poetics.
British and Irish Literature.
Theatre and Performance Studies.