William Shakespeares Hamlet is probably the best-known and most commented upon work of literature in Western culture. The paradox is that it is at once utterly familiar and strangely elusivemdash;very like our own selves; argues Gabriel Josipovici in this stimulating and original study. Moreover; our desire to master this elusiveness; to ldquo;pluck the heart out of its mystery;rdquo; as Hamlet himself says; precisely mirrors what is going on in the play; and what Shakespeares play demonstrates is that to conceive human character (and works of art) in this way is profoundly misguided. Rather than rushing to conclusions or setting out a theory of what Hamlet is ldquo;about;rdquo; therefore; we should read and watch patiently and openly; allowing the play to unfold before us in its own time and trying to see each moment in the context of the whole. Josipovicirsquo;s valuable book is thus an exercise in analysis which puts the physical experience of watching and reading at the heart of the critical processmdash;at once a practical introduction to a great and much-loved play and a sophisticated intervention in some of the key questions of theory and aesthetics of our time.
#2490827 in eBooks 2016-02-29 2016-02-29File Name: B01CD5B4GI
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