Shame in Shakespeare

<p>One of the most intense and painful of our human passions shame is typically seen in contemporary culture as a disability or a disease to be cured. Shakespeare's ultimately positive portrayal of the emotion challenges this view. Drawing on philosophers and theorists of shame <em>Shame in Shakespeare</em> analyses the shame and humiliation suffered by the tragic hero providing not only a new approach to Shakespeare but a committed and provocative argument for reclaiming shame.<br>The volume provides:<br>· an account of previous traditions of shame and of the Renaissance context<br>· a thematic map of the rich manifestations of both masculine and feminine shame in Shakespeare<br>· detailed readings of <em>Hamlet</em> <em>Othello</em> and <em>King Lear</em><br>· an analysis of the limitations of Roman shame in <em>Antony and Cleopatra</em> and <em>Coriolanus</em><br>· a polemical discussion of the fortunes of shame in modern literature after Shakespeare.<br>The book presents a Shakespearean vision of shame as the way to the world outside the self. It establishes the continued vitality and relevance of Shakespeare and offers a fresh and exciting way of seeing his tragedies.</p>