Shakespeare's feminine endings
Subtitle: disfiguring  death in the tragedies
By: Philippa Berry.
Series: Feminist readings of Shakespeare
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1999
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 197
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Tragedies.; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Women.; Feminism and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century.; Feminism and literature -- England -- History -- 17th century.; Women and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century.; Women and literature -- England -- History -- 17th century.; Sex role in literature.; Death in literature.; Closure (Rhetoric)
Description: In this elegant and provocative book, Philippa Berry draws on feminist theory, postmodern thought and queer theory, to challenge existing critical notions of what is 'fundamental' to Shakespearean tragedy. She shows how, through a network of images clustered around feminine or feminized characters, these plays 'disfigure' conventional ideas of death as a bodily end, as their figures of women are interwoven with provocative meditations upon matter, time, the soul, and the body. The scope of these tragic speculations was radical in Shakespeare's day; yet they also have a surprising relevance to contemporary debates about time and matter in science and philosophy.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-188) and index.