Hamlet's Choice: Religion and Resistance in Shakespeare's Revenge Tragedies

By: Peter Lake

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: An illuminating account of how Shakespeare worked through the tensions of Queen Elizabeth&’s England in two canon-defining plays Conspiracies and revolts simmered beneath the surface of Queen Elizabeth&’s reign. England was riven with tensions created by religious conflict and the prospect of dynastic crisis and regime change. In this rich, incisive account, Peter Lake reveals how in Titus Andronicus and Hamlet Shakespeare worked through a range of Tudor anxieties, including concerns about the nature of justice, resistance, and salvation. In both Hamlet and Titus the princes are faced with successions forged under questionable circumstances and they each have a choice: whether or not to resort to political violence. The unfolding action, Lake argues, is best understood in terms of contemporary debates about the legitimacy of resistance and the relation between religion and politics. Relating the plays to their broader political and polemical contexts, Lake sheds light on the nature of revenge, resistance, and religion in post-Reformation England.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780300256703
Publisher:: Yale University Press
Date of Addition:: 07/21/20
Copyrighted By:: Peter Lake
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Drama, Plays and Theater, Language Arts
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.