Shakespeare and this "imperfect" world
Subtitle: dramatic form and the nature of knowing
By: Giulio Marra.
Series: Studies in Shakespeare,; vol. 5
Publisher: P. Lang; Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Philosophy.; Characters and characteristics in literature.; Knowledge, Theory of, in literature.; Self-knowledge in literature.; Drama -- Technique.; Literary form.
Description: This study on Shakespearean theatre attempts to correlate the cognitive impulse animating the character with the ensuing dramatic form. A Shakespearean character determines the play's structure through the intrinsic need to resolve the problem he is brought up against. He does this by utilizing theatrical means, metadramatic elements, which themselves become an integral part of the concept of theatre.

Any external moral framework constricting the character within traditional dramatic forms appears, therefore, to impose perspectival limits on the text. Rather, The Tempest provides the reader with intrinsic and general guidelines through the skepticism of Prospero. Through concepts of "wonder" and "limitation" he defines the boundaries of action thus determining the idea of self-knowledge. General aesthetic and philosophical problems are embedded within the texture of the play's structure.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.