Shakespeare and Violence [Paperback]

This 2002 book explores the nature of violence in Shakespeare's plays and its connection to our own time.Shakespeare and Violence connects to current anxieties about the problem of violence, and shows how similar concerns are central in Shakespeare's plays. At first he exploited spectacular violence for its entertainment value, but in later plays he explored a range of issues relating to war, heroism, manliness, and violence in nature as well as in human beings. This book is the first to examine the development of Shakespeare's representations of violence and to explain their importance in shaping his career as a dramatist.Shakespeare and Violence connects to current anxieties about the problem of violence, and shows how similar concerns are central in Shakespeare's plays. At first he exploited spectacular violence for its entertainment value, but in later plays he explored a range of issues relating to war, heroism, manliness, and violence in nature as well as in human beings. This book is the first to examine the development of Shakespeare's representations of violence and to explain their importance in shaping his career as a dramatist.Relating this study to current anxieties about the problem of violence, R.A. Foakes reveals how similar concerns are central in Shakespeare's plays. At first Shakespeare exploited spectacular violence for its entertainment value, but in later plays he explored a range of issues relating to war, heroism, manliness, and violence in nature as well as in human beings. This book examines the development of Shakespeare's representations of violence and explains their importance in shaping his career as a dramatist.List of illustrations; Preface; 1. Introduction: 'Exterminate all the brutes'; 2. Shakespeare's culture of violence; 3. Shakespeare and the display of violence; 4. Plays and movies: Richard III and Romeo and Juliet; 5. Shakespeare on war: King John to Henry V; 6. Violence, Renaissance tragedy, and Hamlet; 7. The central tragedil£u