Shakespeare: The Tragedies

by Nicholas Marsh

Thought of as Shakespeare's most powerful works, the four great tragedies, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth , are texts of unparalleled richness and depth, stimulating and exciting to study. This book takes extracts and examines them, explaining how the critic can use particular techniques to bring out complexities of meaning, understand the patterns of metaphor and the rhythms of the poetry and appreciate the ever-living drama. Chapters on the openings and endings of plays, heroes and heroines, society, humour, imagery and the tragic universe guide the student on a journey of inquiry into the nature of Shakespeare's tragic vision. Far from simplifying Shakespeare, the reader is challenged to confront the depth and subtlety of the dramas, and to enjoy the analytical pursuit of ever finer insight, ever fuller understanding.

250 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Sylvie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting approach to analyzing the texts, doing a close read of very specific extracts rather than discussing the plays as a whole, more in the style of the French “explication de texte.” Each chapter looked at one brief extract from each of the four major tragedies, focusing first on the openings, then the endings, heroes, society, humor, and, finally, imagery. Even though this meant that only a very small percentage of the text of each play was discussed, the author did manage to tease out larger meanings that helped me understand the works better. One benefit of the close read is that it made sense even for plays that I hadn’t read in a long time, such as King Lear. This leads me to actually want to attempt the other volume I have on the comedies, even though I haven’t yet read most of the plays.