Shakespeare, the Reformation and the Interpreting Self - (Edinburgh Critical Studies in Shakespeare and Philosophy) by Roberta Kwan (Hardcover)

About the Book

Reconceptualises Shakespeare's representations of selfhood by drawing on a long history of the interpreting self

• Provides a groundbreaking contribution to the expanding field of study situated at the intersections of Shakespeare, religion and philosophy
• Illuminates Shakespeare's indebtedness to Reformation hermeneutics, that is, the Reformers' configuring of the interpreting self
• Offers a distinctive vantage point on our sense that Shakespeare's plays speak to present-day human experience by employing a critical framework that shows the influence of the Reformers' hermeneutics on modern philosophical hermeneutics
• Presents innovative readings of Shakespeare's 'problem plays' - Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure and All's Well That Ends Well - and their viewpoints on human subjectivity

We share with Shakespeare, it seems, the assumption that to be human is to know through interpretation. This innovative study examines Shakespeare's compelling dramatisations of the interpreting self through the lens of a hermeneutical tradition that spans culture-shaping early modern religious beliefs about human knowing and pivotal philosophical ideas of our age. What is it to be an interpreting self? Shakespeare, the Reformation and the Interpreting Self offers fresh perspectives on critical questions about the self's finitude, agency, motivations, self-knowledge and ethical relation to others; questions that were of great relevance in Shakespeare's England and which continue to frame present-day dilemmas and debates about human experience and human being.

Book Synopsis

We share with Shakespeare, it seems, the assumption that to be human is to be an interpreter of oneself, others and the world - seeking but not always arriving at understanding. Shakespeare, the Reformation and the Interpreting Self explores this perspective on human subjectivity. This study reads the complex, compelling representations of the self as an interpreter (and misinterpreter) of reality in Shakespeare's 'problem plays' alongside an intellectual history that links the culture-shaping theological hermeneutics of the playwright's day to the similarly influential philosophical hermeneutics of our times. What is it to be an interpreting self? This book's critical approach brings to the fore questions about the self's finitude, agency, motivations, self-knowledge and ethical relation to others, questions that were of great relevance in Shakespeare's England and which continue to resonate in our present-day dilemmas and debates about human experience and human being.

From the Back Cover

Reconceptualises Shakespeare's representations of selfhood by drawing on a long history of the interpreting self We share with Shakespeare, it seems, the assumption that to be human is to know through interpretation. This innovative study examines Shakespeare's compelling dramatisations of the interpreting self through the lens of a hermeneutical tradition that spans culture-shaping early modern religious beliefs about human knowing and pivotal philosophical ideas of our age. What is it to be an interpreting self? Shakespeare, the Reformation and the Interpreting Self offers fresh perspectives on critical questions about the self's finitude, agency, motivations, self-knowledge and ethical relation to others; questions that were of great relevance in Shakespeare's England and which continue to frame present-day dilemmas and debates about human experience and human being. Roberta Kwan is an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Media, Communication, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature at Macquarie University, Sydney.

Review Quotes

Shakespeare, the Reformation and the Interpreting Self is a powerfully argued and meticulously demonstrated account of the ways in which the Protestant Reformation redefined the prevailing notions of the self. This work is adept in its detailed referencing of a "hermeneutic revolution", the sweeping religious, social and intellectual changes ushered in by the Reformation and its theological thinkers. The human individual as interpreting self is given rigorous theological focus through the ideas of Calvin, and Luther, among others; socially, in the changing forces of British religious and cultural life and institutions; and in Shakespeare's writings, where Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, and All's Well that Ends Well are analysed for their complex understandings of characters as interpreting selves.-- "AUHE Prize for Literary Scholarship 2023"

Roberta Kwan's considered, deeply informed and lively book shows the act of interpretation, and the condition of hermeneutical uncertainty, to be central to works of drama emerging in an age passionately divided over the question "how can we know?" A fine contribution to literary criticism and to studies of religion.--Peter Holbrook, Australian Catholic University

This book is a superb contribution to a particularly complex field historically and philosophically. The scholarship is erudite, rigorous, lucid, and adeptly connects the complexities of Shakespeare's historical dramatic art to issues of contemporary relevance.--Liam Semler, University of Sydney

About the Author

Roberta Kwan is an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Media, Communication, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature at Macquarie University, Sydney and an Honorary Associate in the Medieval and Early Modern Centre at The University of Sydney. Her research explores the intersections of early modern drama, theology and philosophy. She has published several scholarly articles in this field.