Overview

Clear mirrors and The Geneva Bible, revolutionary innovations of the Elizabethan age, inspired Shakespeare’s drive towards a new purpose for drama. Shakespeare reversed the conventional mirror metaphor for drama, implying drama cannot reflect the substance of human nature, and developed a method of characterization, through metadrama, self-awareness and soliloquy, to project St. Paul’s idea of conscience onto the Elizabethan stage. This revolutionary method of characterization, aesthetic existence beyond performance, has long been sensed but remains frustratingly uncategorized. Shakespeare’s Mirrors charts the invention of a drama that staged the unstageable: St. Paul’s metaphysical conception of human nature glimpsed through a looking glass darkly.

Full Product Details

Author:   Edward Evans
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.548kg
ISBN:  

9781032726984

ISBN 10:   1032726989
Pages:   200
Publication Date:   26 September 2024
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Shakespeare’s Mirror Metaphors Prologue: “The Mirror of All Martial Men,” (Living up to Stereotypes) Mirrors in the Cultural and Historical Context of Sixteenth Century England Henry VI, Part One 1. “Amorous Looking-Glass:” The Self-Infatuation of the Regal Perfomer in the Early Histories Richard III and Henry VI, Parts Two and Three Richard II 2. “Dissembling Glass of Mine:” Female Self-Evaluation within the Patriarchal Genre of Courtship Comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Comedy of Errors The Taming of the Shrew Love’s Labour’s Lost A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Merchant of Venice As You Like It 3. “The Mirror of All Christian Kings:” Increasing Tension between Classical Action and Christian Passivity Henry IV, Part Two Henry V Julius Caesar 4. “The Mirror up to Nature:” Hamlet’s Metaphysical Redirection of the Purpose of Playing Hamlet Metatheatre Subverting the Classical Tradition Shakespeare’s Rivalry with Ben Jonson Hamlet’s Pauline Education at Wittenberg The Gravedigger Scene as Christian Exegesis Venetian Mirrors and the Representation of the Self in the Context of the Revolutionary Social and Scientific Environment of the Sixteenth Century 5. “Glassy Essence:” The Fraudulent Hypocrisy of Impious Authority Troilus and Cressida Measure for Measure Timon of Athens 6. “Spacious Mirror:” The Epic Futility of Political Activity in a World Without Redemption King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus 7. “My Glass, Mine Own:” Human Play and Identity Reconciled Through Performative Faith Pericles, Prince of Tyre Cymbeline The Winter’s Tale The Tempest The Two Noble Kinsmen Henry VIII Epilogue: “Through A Glass, Darkly” Bibliography

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Author Information

Edward Evans received his BA in Ancient and Modern History and MPhil in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford. He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from Bar-Ilan University.

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