Hamlet versus Lear Cultural Politics and Shakespeare's Art [Paperback]

A consideration of the two plays of Shakespeare that have generally contended for the title of 'greatest' among his work.This book focuses on the two plays of Shakespeare that have generally contended for the title of 'greatest' among his works. Recent critical theorising has destabilised the texts and undermined the notion of 'greatness' or any consideration of the plays as works of art. Foakes takes issue with such theories and reconsiders textual revisions, in order to argue for the integrity of the plays as reading texts, and to recover a flexible sense of their artistry in relation to meaing.This book focuses on the two plays of Shakespeare that have generally contended for the title of 'greatest' among his works. Recent critical theorising has destabilised the texts and undermined the notion of 'greatness' or any consideration of the plays as works of art. Foakes takes issue with such theories and reconsiders textual revisions, in order to argue for the integrity of the plays as reading texts, and to recover a flexible sense of their artistry in relation to meaing.This book focuses on the two plays of Shakespeare that have generally contended for the title of greatest among his works. Recent critical theorizing has destabilized the texts and undermined the notion of greatness or any consideration of the plays as works of art. Foakes takes issue with such theories and reconsiders textual revisions, in order to argue for the integrity of the plays as reading texts, and to recover a flexible sense of their artistry in relation to meaning.Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. Introduction: Hamlet versus King Lear; 2. Hamlet and Hamletism; 3. The reception of King Lear; 4. Plays and texts; 5. Hamlet, King Lear and art; 6. A design for Hamlet; 7. A shaping for King Lear; Epilogue. Attention to any book by this distinguished author and professor of English...is always warranted, but especially this one, which has as its subjects, Hamlet and Lear, their variant texts, polÃF