Drama of Complaint - Ethical Provocations in Shakespeare''s Tragedy

The first book-length study of complaint in Shakespearean drama, arguing that poetic forms of complaint--expressions of discontent and unhappiness--operate as sites of thought about human flourishing; and that Shakespearean configurations of these forms of complaint in theatrical scenes model new ways of thinking about ethical subjectivity.

List of contents

• Introduction: Scenes of Complaint


• 1: Signs of Life: Existential Complaint and the Creaturely Ethics of Complaining


• 2: Ethical Demands: Judicial Complaint and the Call of Conscience


• 3: 'Me and My Cause': Spectral Complaints and Sublime Motives


• 4: Lamentable Objects: Good Audiences and the Art of Female Complaint


• 5: 'Nobody, I myself': Deathbed Complaint and the Authority of Happiness Scripts

About the author

Emily Shortslef is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on Shakespeare, early modern drama, and the intersection of ethics and poetics in early modern writing. She has published in journals such as English Literary History and the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, and has contributed essays about Shakespeare, complaint, and ethics to a number of edited collections.

Summary

The first book-length study of complaint in Shakespearean drama, arguing that poetic forms of complaint--expressions of discontent and unhappiness--operate as sites of thought about human flourishing; and that Shakespearean configurations of these forms of complaint in theatrical scenes model new ways of thinking about ethical subjectivity.

Product details

• Authors: Shortslef , Dr Emily (Assistant Professor of Englis Shortslef, Dr Emily (Assistant Professor of English Shortslef, Emily Shortslef
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 08.06.2023
• EAN: 9780192868480
• ISBN: 978-0-19-286848-0
• No. of pages: 234
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; English, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, LITERARY CRITICISM / Semiotics & Theory, DRAMA / Shakespeare, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / General, Literary theory, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Classic and pre-20th century plays, Shakespeare Plays, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean