Hamlet and the Vision of Darkness

by Rhodri Lewis

An acclaimed new interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet and the Vision of Darkness is a radical new interpretation of the most famous play in the English language. By exploring Shakespeare's engagements with the humanist traditions of early modern England and Europe, Rhodri Lewis reveals a Hamlet unseen for centuries: an innovative, coherent, and exhilaratingly bleak tragedy in which the governing ideologies of Shakespeare's age are scrupulously upended. Recovering a work of far greater magnitude than the tragedy of a young man who cannot make up his mind, Lewis shows that in Hamlet, as in King Lear, Shakespeare confronts his audiences with a universe that received ideas are powerless to illuminate--and where everyone must find their own way through the dark.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Shakespeare, History, Nonfiction

392 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2020

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two chapters were terrific. I found the analysis of the hunt and its connections to the hawk and the handsaw compelling. The rest of it was tedious enough that I didn't finish. It seems far too clever and contrived to tell us anything useful about the play.