Shakespeare's Feminine Endings: Disfiguring Death in the Tragedies

In this elegant and provocative book, Philippa Berry rewrites critical perceptions of death in Shakespeare’s tragedies from a feminist perspective. Drawing on feminist theory, postmodern thought and queer theory, Berry shows how, through a network of images clustered around female or feminized characters, these plays ‘disfigure’ death as a bodily end.
Through her close reading of the main tragedies, Berry discovers a sensuous and meditative Shakespearean discourse of materialism. The scope of these tragic speculations was radical in Shakespeare’s day, yet they also have a surprising relevance to current debates about gender and sexuality, as well as to contemporary discussions of time and matter.