Deadly Thought - (Applications of Political Theory) by Jan H Blits (Paperback)

About the Book

The human soul is for pre-modern philosophers the cause of both thinking and life. This double aspect of the soul, which makes man a rational animal, expresses itself above all in human action. Deadly Thought: "Hamlet" and the Human Soul traces Hamlet's famous inability to act...

Book Synopsis

The human soul is for pre-modern philosophers the cause of both thinking and life. This double aspect of the soul, which makes man a rational animal, expresses itself above all in human action. Deadly Thought: "Hamlet" and the Human Soul traces Hamlet's famous inability to act to his inability to hold together these twin aspects of the soul.

Review Quotes

Deadly Thought is the closest reading I know of this much-written-about work. The particulars are always related to general discussions of philosophic issues, political questions, diction, and rhetoric. . . . A study well worth the serious attention it requires of its reader.

Deadly Thought will be an invaluable resource for any student who wishes to study [Hamlet] intensely or investigate avenues for further research.

Blits is that rare critic of "Hamlet" who convinces his reader that, in commenting on the play line by line, he has connected every line with every other of the play's more than four thousand lines.

It is a rare reader who combines successfully audacity with great care. Jan Blits is one of our shrewdest interpreters of Shakespeare.

This accessible account is a good choice for high school and college students and is recommended for all public libraries.

About the Author

Jan H. Blits is Professor, Honors Faculty, at the University of Delaware. He is the author of The Insufficiency of Virtue: 'Macbeth' and the Natural Order (1996), and The End of the Ancient Republic: Essays on 'Julius Caesar'(1993).