Revisionist Shakespeare: Transitional Ideologies in Texts and Contexts

Product Description
Shakespeare's critics have often claimed that plays such as The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, and Coriolanus allegorize the ways in which class conflict influences the transition from feudalism to capitalism in England. Revisionist historians have argued, however, that the rise of capitalism was more often conditioned by the unintended consequences of social policy, rather than by polarized class positions. This study uses revisionist historical accounts of the transitional period in order to offer a new methodology for understanding the representation of social and economic change in Shakespearean drama.
Review
"This intelligent book argues that Shakespeare's plays are much more thoughtful about their world--and constructions of it--than often believed. Cefalu shows that rather than allegorically reflecting historical reality and change, such plays as Hamlet and King Lear meditate on profound contradictions in early modern society and ideology. Usefully enriched by attention to intellectual history and literary form, Revisionist Shakespeare comes as a welcome qualification of new historicism and cultural materialism alike. No serious student of Shakespeare and early modern literature can afford to overlook this book."--Douglas Bruster, author of Shakespeare and the Question of Culture





Approved by Englishcology