The Early Modern Corpse and Shakespeare's Theatre

Susan Zimmerman

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2005

The Early Modern Corpse and Shakespeare's Theatre

Susan Zimmerman

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748680764

Overview
Contents

About this book

Within a theoretical framework that makes use of history, psychoanalysis and anthropology, The Early Modern Corpse and Shakespeare's Theatre explores the relationship of the public theatre to the question of what constituted the 'dead' in early modern English culture.

Susan Zimmerman argues that concepts of the corpse as a semi-animate, generative and indeterminate entity were deeply rooted in medieval religious culture. Such concepts ran counter to early modern discourses that sought to harden categorical distinctions between body/spirit, animate/inanimate - in particular, the attacks of Reformists on the materiality of 'dead' idols, and the rationale of the new anatomy for publicly dissecting 'dead' bodies. Zimmerman contends that within this context, theatrical representations of the corpse or corpse/revenant - as seen here in the tragedies of Shakespeare and his contemporaries - uniquely showcased the theatre's own ideological and performative agency.

Key Features

Original in its conjunction of critical theory (Bataille, Kristeva, Lacan, Benjamin) with an historical account of the shifting status of the corpse in late medieval and early modern England.
The first study to demonstrate connections between the meanings attached to the material body in early modern Protestantism, the practice of anatomical dissection, and the English public theatre.
Strong market appeal to scholars and graduate students with interests in the theatre of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, early modern religion and science, and literary theory.
Relevant to advanced undergraduates taking widely taught courses in Shakespeare and in Renaissance drama.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Recognitions Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Copyright Permissions Publicly Available Download PDF	x
1 Dead Bodies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Body Imaging and Religious Reform: The Corpse as Idol Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
3 Animating Matter: The Corpse as Idol in The Second Maidens Tragedy and The Duke of Milan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
4 Invading the Grave: Shadow Lives in The Revenger’s Tragedy and The Duchess of Malfi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
5 Killing the Dead: Duncan’s Corpse and Hamlet’s Ghost Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
Epilogue: Last Words Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Keywords: Literary Studies

eBook

Published: February 14, 2005
ISBN: 9780748680764