Faith in Shakespeare

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, Nonfiction, Entertainment, Drama, Shakespeare
Cover of the book Faith in Shakespeare by Richard C. McCoy, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Richard C. McCoy ISBN: 9780190217594
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: April 16, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Richard C. McCoy
ISBN: 9780190217594
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: April 16, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Speculation about Shakespeare's own religious beliefs and responses to the Reformation have dominated discussions of faith in the playwright's work for decades. As a result, we often lose sight of what's truly important-the plays themselves. By focusing on those plays in several succinct, fluently written chapters, Richard McCoy reminds us of the spell-binding power inherent in works like Othello, As You Like It, and The Winter's Tale and shows why they continue to cause audiences to gladly exercise what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called the "willing suspension of disbelief." Faith in Shakespeare ruminates on what it means to believe in the Bard's plays, exploring how their plots can be both preposterous and gripping, and how their characters seem more substantial and enduring than the people surrounding us in the theater. Informed by Coleridge's "poetic faith," the book discusses what this concept shares with religious faith and how it departs from recent historicist approaches to the dramatist's work. Faith in Shakespeare concentrates more on text than context, finding the afterlife of Shakespeare's language more vivid and engaging than theological controversies. The book confirms its convictions in literature's intrinsic powers by exploring the causes for our paradoxical belief in theater's potent but manifest illusions. Plays that ask their audience to "awake your faith" or "believe then, if you please" ultimately enable us to "mind true things by what their mockeries be." Rather than faith in God or the supernatural, McCoy argues that faith in Shakespeare is sustained and explained only by the complex, subtle, and entirely human power of poetic eloquence and dramatic performance.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Speculation about Shakespeare's own religious beliefs and responses to the Reformation have dominated discussions of faith in the playwright's work for decades. As a result, we often lose sight of what's truly important-the plays themselves. By focusing on those plays in several succinct, fluently written chapters, Richard McCoy reminds us of the spell-binding power inherent in works like Othello, As You Like It, and The Winter's Tale and shows why they continue to cause audiences to gladly exercise what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called the "willing suspension of disbelief." Faith in Shakespeare ruminates on what it means to believe in the Bard's plays, exploring how their plots can be both preposterous and gripping, and how their characters seem more substantial and enduring than the people surrounding us in the theater. Informed by Coleridge's "poetic faith," the book discusses what this concept shares with religious faith and how it departs from recent historicist approaches to the dramatist's work. Faith in Shakespeare concentrates more on text than context, finding the afterlife of Shakespeare's language more vivid and engaging than theological controversies. The book confirms its convictions in literature's intrinsic powers by exploring the causes for our paradoxical belief in theater's potent but manifest illusions. Plays that ask their audience to "awake your faith" or "believe then, if you please" ultimately enable us to "mind true things by what their mockeries be." Rather than faith in God or the supernatural, McCoy argues that faith in Shakespeare is sustained and explained only by the complex, subtle, and entirely human power of poetic eloquence and dramatic performance.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Loverly by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book In the Field, Among the Feathered by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Exile, Diaspora, and Return by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Through the Lion Gate by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Resounding Transcendence by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Survey Research in Corporate Finance by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Systems Science and Population Health by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book The Explainability of Experience by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Trans Bodies, Trans Selves by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book Debating Climate Ethics by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book The Trouble with Lawyers by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book The Face of Britain by Richard C. McCoy
Cover of the book After the Spring:Economic Transitions in the Arab World by Richard C. McCoy
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy