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OverviewMetaphors animate Shakespeare’s corpus, and one of the most prominent is the image of the body. Sketched out in the eternal lines of his plays and poetry, and often drawn in exquisite detail, variations on the body metaphor abound in the works of Shakespeare. Attention to the political dimensions of this metaphor in Shakespeare and the Body Politic permits readers to examine the sentiments of romantic love and family life, the enjoyment of peace, prosperity and justice, and the spirited pursuit of honor and glory as they inevitably emerge within the social, moral, and religious limits of particular political communities. The lessons to be learned from such an examination are both timely and timeless. For the tensions between the desires and pursuits of individuals and the health of the community forge the sinews of every body politic, regardless of the form it may take or even where and when one might encounter it. In his plays and poetry Shakespeare illuminates these tensions within the body politic, which itself constitutes the framework for a flourishing community of human beings and citizens—from the ancient city-states of Greece and Rome to the Christian cities and kingdoms of early modern Europe. The contributors to this volume attend to the political context and role of political actors within the diverse works of Shakespeare that they explore. Their arguments thus exhibit together Shakespeare’s political thought. By examining his plays and poetry with the seriousness they deserve, Shakespeare’s audiences and readers not only discover an education in human and political virtue, but also find themselves written into his lines. Shakespeare’s body of work is indeed politic, and the whole that it forms incorporates us all. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Bernard J. Dobski , Dustin A. Gish , Joseph Alulis , George AnastaploPublisher: Lexington Books Imprint: Lexington Books Dimensions: Width: 16.10cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 23.30cm Weight: 0.540kg ISBN: 9780739170953ISBN 10: 0739170953 Pages: 286 Publication Date: 25 April 2013 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface Chapter 1: Shakespeare and the Body Politic Bernard J. Dobski and Dustin Gish Part One: The Heart Chapter 2: “The Very Heart of Loss”: Love and Politics in Antony and Cleopatra Joseph Alulis Chapter 3: Julius Caesar: The Problem of Classical Republicanism Timothy Burns Chapter 4: Who is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? Nasser Behnegar Chapter 5: Love, Honor,and Community in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Pamela Jensen Part Two: The Limbs Chapter 6: At War ‘Twixt Will and Will Not: Government, Marriage, and Grace in Measure for Measure Peter Meilaender Chapter 7: Trojan Horse or Troilus’ Whore? Pandering Statecraft and Political Stagecraft in Troilus and Cressida Nalin Ranasinghe Chapter 8: Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece: Honor and Republicanism Robert Schaefer Chapter 9: Hotspur and Falstaff vs. The Politicians: Shakespeare’s View of Honor Timothy Spiekerman Part Three: The Head Chapter 10: Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, and Philosophy: A Preliminary Inquiry George Anastaplo Chapter 11: Taming the Shrew: Shakespeare, Machiavelli, and Political Philosophy Dustin Gish Chapter 12: The Education of Edgar in Shakespeare’s King Lear Laurence D. Nee Chapter 13: Shakespeare and the Comedy and Tragedy of Liberalism David K. Nichols List of Contributors IndexReviews[T]he articles provide interesting and instructive perspectives. Teachers and students within the undergraduate forums of several disciplines should find ideas to explore here, as well as a useful bibliography. * Sixteenth Century Journal * The abundance of fresh insights in this collection owes to the contributors' uncommon familiarity with issues that distinguish early modern from classical political thought. -- John Alvis, professor and director, American Studies Program, University of Dallas This lively collection of essays, assembled by Bernard J. Dobski and Dustin Gish, organizes its contents under three rubrics: the heart, the limbs, and the head. The book is an insightful exploration of one of Shakespeare's most enduring metaphors: that of the political state as a sentient body whose parts, in Menenius's memorable fable in Coriolanus, correspond to the human frame, with the belly as the senators of Rome, sending nourishment through the rivers of the blood to all the cranks and offices of man only to meet with the insolent defiance of the mutinous members, the populace, the outward limbs. This concept, explored with fresh analysis and fruitful observations in this collection, gives us much to think about in Shakespeare's world where princes, statesmen, nobles, clergymen, and commoners are all political actors. The body politic, in the words of this volume's editors, is `perhaps the most vivid and enduring image in speech describing political community ever proposed.' -- David Bevington, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago The abundance of fresh insights in this collection owes to the contributors' uncommon familiarity with issues that distinguish early modern from classical political thought. -- John Alvis, Professor and Director American Studies Program, University of Dallas Author InformationBernard J. Dobski is Associate Professor of Political Science at Assumption College, where he teaches courses in international relations, American politics and political philosophy, including a course on Shakespeare’s politics. He received his BA from Boston College and his MA and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He is the contributing co-editor of Souls With Longing: Representations of Honor and Love in Shakespeare (Lexington Books, 2011) and of “The Political Thought of William Shakespeare” (special issue of Perspectives on Political Science, 2012). He has published book chapters, articles, reviews and review essays on Thucydides, Xenophon, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, American foreign policy and just war theory in POLIS: The Journal For Ancient Greek Political Thought, Perspectives on Political Science, The Review of Politics, Interpretation, Society and The Review of Metaphysics. Dustin Gish has published articles, book chapters, review essays, and reviews on a wide range of topics in the history of political philosophy, including the political thought of Homer, Xenophon, Plato, William Shakespeare, and Thomas Jefferson. He is the contributing co-editor of Souls With Longing: Representations of Honor and Love in Shakespeare and of The Political Thought of Xenophon; his work has appeared in The Journal of Politics, History of Political Thought, Perspectives on Political Science, Polis, The Review of Politics, and Bryn Mawr Classical Review. He currently teaches ancient and early modern constitutionalism as Lecturer in the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage at the University of Oklahoma. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |