Shakespeare's Body Language - by Miranda Fay Thomas (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Why do the Capulets bite their thumbs at the Montagues? Why do the Venetians spit upon Shylock's Jewish gaberdine? What is it about Volumnia's act of kneeling that convinces Coriolanus not to assault the city of Rome?

Shakespeare's Body Language is a ground-breaking new study of Shakespearean drama, revealing the previously unseen history of social tensions found within the performance of gestures - and how such gestures are used to shame those within the body politic of early modern England. The first full study of shaming gestures in Shakespearean drama, this book establishes how shame is often rooted in the gendered expectations of the Renaissance era. Exploring how the performance of gestures such as figging, the cuckold's horns, and even the in-action of stillness created shaming spectacles on the early modern stage and its wider society, Shakespeare's Body Languageargues that gestures are embodied social metaphors which epitomise the personal as political. It reveals the tensions of everyday life as key motivators behind the actions of Shakespeare's characters, and considers how honour and its opposite, shame, are constructed in terms of gender norms.

Featuring in-depth analyses of plays across Shakespeare's career, this book explores how the playwright's understanding of shame and humiliation is rooted in performance anxiety and gender politics, explaining how theatrical gestures can create dramatic tension in a way that words alone cannot. It offers both rich insights into the early modern context of Shakespeare's drama and confirms the startling relevance of his work to modern audiences.

Review Quotes

Shakespeare's Body Language breaks new ground in its careful discussion of shaming gestures. Thomas weaves together scholarship on gesture and shame, gender studies, iconography and deft close readings of particular plays. It beautifully maps the rich terrain of non-verbal communication in Shakespeare.

In eight detailed chapters ... Thomas offers proliferating possibilities for interpreting key scenes and speeches - a fitting strategy for a work on fleeting gestures and the tricky business of understanding them.
Times Literary Supplement

What makes Shakespeare's Body Language remarkable ... is its deft consideration of a set of enduring and pressing concerns relating to the performance and policing of gender identity ... Thomas achieves this by dextrously weaving in and out of recent performance accounts, rigorous cultural histories of specific gestures, and highly sensitive close readings, making the volume important reading material for students, scholars, and casual readers of Shakespeare's plays alike.
Renaissance Studies

About the Author

Miranda Fay Thomas is Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance at Trinity College Dublin.