Why Shakespeare?

by Catherine Belsey

Why is Shakespeare as highly regarded now as he ever has been? This book's answer to this question counters claims that Shakespeare's iconic status is no more than an accident of history. The plays, Belsey argues, entice us into a world we recognize by retelling traditional fairy tales with a difference, each chapter providing a detailed reading.

Genres: Shakespeare

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2007

About the author

Catherine Belsey is currently Research Professor at Swansea University and formerly Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff University. Best known for her pioneering book, Critical Practice (Methuen, 1980), Catherine Belsey has an international reputation as a deft and sophisticated critical theorist and subtle and eloquent critic of literature, particularly of Renaissance texts. Her main area of work is on the implications of poststructuralist theory for aspects of cultural history and criticism. Her present project is ’Culture and the Real’, a consideration of the limitations of contemporary constructivism in the light of Lacanian psychoanalysis. Professor Belsey chairs the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, a research forum for discussion and debate on current views of the relation between human beings and culture.

Reviews

[Katie Eressy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a grad school paper

[Joanne Gass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why, indeed? I don't think I actually found out why, but I learned a lot about the connections between the plays and folklore, fairy tales, and old wives tales. Nicely written, and, for me, very interesting.

[Candy Wood]

While I'm not convinced that Belsey's answer to her title question is anything new, the book is an interesting exploration of the relationship between some of the plays and mostly familiar folktales. I enjoyed personal touches like the account of her school essay on "Why Hamlet Delays" or her wondering whether she went to the Old Vic because of Shakespeare or Richard Burton. The seven plays discussed include Hamlet and Lear but not Macbeth or Othello--the argument works better for comedies and near-comedies like The Merchant of Venice. It's a very readable book, though, accessible to students.

[Helen Mears · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books on Shakespeare recently, but this is one of the best. Catherine Belsey looks at the presence of folk tales, fairy tales and traditional riddles in the works of Shakespeare and whether these impact on his popularity.

[Modernisti]

Selittää Kuningas Learin kolmen kuninkaanpojan/tyttären satuformaatin avulla.