Overview

Overturns orthodox thinking about morality in Shakespeare's plays by updating our understanding of the human mind This ground-breaking study fearlessly combines latest research in evolutionary psychology, historical scholarship and philosophy to answer a question that has eluded critics for centuries: what is Shakespeare's moral vision? At a political and cultural moment in which many of us are taking stock and looking for meaning, and in which moral outrage and polarisation seem endemic, this book radically reimagines how we might approach great works of literature to find some answers. Key Features Provocatively outlines how we might read literature for ethical contentBrings latest research on morality from evolutionary psychology and sociology to bear on the study of Shakespeare's playsComprehensive coverage of moral philosophy in Shakespeare's time and place, including the impact of the Renaissance, the Reformation and the rise of capitalismPlots 'Shakespeare's moral compass' on six foundations (Authority, Loyalty, Fairness, Sanctity, Care, Liberty) with a chapter on each

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9781474432887

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"""Parvini's prose is engaging and accessible. His analysis of Shakespeare's plays is synthetic, perceptive, and illuminating, and his argumentation is trenchant"" or perhaps ""[an] unusual, provocative monograph"".--Patrick Gray ""The Review of English Studies, New Series, 1-4"" A very well written book, and considering the complicated history of ethics in the humanities, it is particularly remarkable for its clarity in detailing Shakespeare's contribution.-- ""James A. Knapp, Loyola University Chicago"" Shakespeare studies is well within a post-New Historicist phase today, and Neema Parvini's newest book, Shakespeare's Moral Compass, is a case in point, breaking with the progressive politics of New Historicism and drawing on the academic social sciences--specifically the controversial theory of evolutionary psychology--rather than history, philosophy, or economics.--Hugh Grady, Arcadia University ""Renaissance Quarterly"" Shakespeare's Moral Compass is an exemplar of what scholarship in the humanities should be - illuminating the human condition while drawing from multiple disciplines.-- ""Jonathan Haidt, New York University Stern School of Business, and author of The Righteous Mind"""

""Parvini's prose is engaging and accessible. His analysis of Shakespeare's plays is synthetic, perceptive, and illuminating, and his argumentation is trenchant"" or perhaps ""[an] unusual, provocative monograph"".--Patrick Gray ""The Review of English Studies, New Series, 1-4"" A very well written book, and considering the complicated history of ethics in the humanities, it is particularly remarkable for its clarity in detailing Shakespeare's contribution.-- ""James A. Knapp, Loyola University Chicago"" Shakespeare studies is well within a post-New Historicist phase today, and Neema Parvini's newest book, Shakespeare's Moral Compass, is a case in point, breaking with the progressive politics of New Historicism and drawing on the academic social sciences--specifically the controversial theory of evolutionary psychology--rather than history, philosophy, or economics.--Hugh Grady, Arcadia University ""Renaissance Quarterly"" Shakespeare's Moral Compass is an exemplar of what scholarship in the humanities should be - illuminating the human condition while drawing from multiple disciplines.-- ""Jonathan Haidt, New York University Stern School of Business, and author of The Righteous Mind""

Author Information

Neema Parvini is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Surrey. His previous books include Shakespeare's History Plays (EUP, 2012), Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory (Bloomsbury, 2012), Shakespeare and Cognition (Palgrave, 2015) and Shakespeare and New Historicist Theory (Bloomsbury, 2017).

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