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In this new monograph, Claire Hansen demonstrates how Shakespeare can be understood as a complex system, and how complexity theory can provide compelling and original readings of Shakespeare's plays. The book utilises complexity theory to illuminate early modern theatrical practice, Shakespeare pedagogy, and the phenomenon of the Shakespeare 'myth'. The monograph re-evaluates Shakespeare, his plays, early modern theatre, and modern classrooms as complex systems, illustrating how the lens of complexity offers an enlightening new perspective on diverse areas of Shakespeare scholarship. The book's interdisciplinary approach enriches our understanding of Shakespeare and lays the foundation for complexity theory in Shakespeare studies and the humanities more broadly.
List of contents
CONTENTS
List of Figures
Introduction: Shakespeare, the System
1: The Characteristics of Complexity
2: ‘Like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered’: Dance and bounded instability in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
3: ‘Hath the firmament more suns than one?’ Co-authorship, space and self-organisation in Titus Andronicus
4: ‘Such Branches of Learning’: The Unexpected in Shakespeare Pedagogy and The Merchant of Venice
5: ‘Constant as the Northern Star’? The Power of Attractors in Stratford-upon-Avon and Julius Caesar
Conclusion
References
Index
About the author
Claire Hansen is a researcher on the Shakespeare Reloaded Project at the University of Sydney.
Summary
Shakespeare and Complexity Theory is the first book-length examination into how complexity theory may be incorporated within Shakespeare studies. The book demonstrates how complexity theory can illuminate our understanding of Shakespeare’s texts, early modern theatrical practices (from dance to co-authorship to stagecraft), peda
