Why Read Shakespeare?

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-05917-2
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 128 Seiten, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm

Reihe: Why Read?

Why Read Shakespeare? treats Shakespeare as a dramatist who thinks philosophically through stories. Written for students and general readers, the book argues that Shakespeare is worth reading because of the provocative answers he offers to three philosophical questions: What is love? Do human beings have free will? And why does political authority command obedience?

This book addresses each question alongside one of Shakespeare’s genres. In comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night, Shakespeare depicts love as hopelessly irrational, shaped by impulse and imagination. The tragedies explore free will in the religious world of the Reformation, where characters such as Othello, Lear, Macbeth, Romeo, Juliet, and Hamlet make choices of their own, even when they are bound by the dictates of fate, providence, and plot. The histories, especially Richard III and those of the Second Tetralogy, argue that political authority depends less on bloodline or divine sanction than on the compelling performance of authority. The epilogue turns to Measure for Measure to show how these problems overlap.

The book is ideal for readers new to Shakespeare, instructors seeking accessible conceptual approaches, and students looking for routes into Shakespeare's historical contexts and relevance.

Zielgruppe

General, Undergraduate Advanced, and Undergraduate Core

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stockton, Will

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Dramen und Dramatiker
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Why Read Shakespeare?; 1: Everything You Need to Know about Shakespeare before Reading Shakespeare; 2: The Problem of Love: The Comedies; 3: The Problem of Free Will: The Tragedies; 4: The Problem of Political Authority: The Histories; Epilogue: When Problems Won’t Stay Put; Index

Über Autor(innen)

Will Stockton is Professor of English at Clemson University, USA. His recent books include The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Religion (2026) and An Introduction to Queer Literary Studies: Reading Queerly (2023).