Shakespeare and the History of SoliloquiesProvides the first systematic and comprehensive account of the conventions governing soliloquies in Western drama from ancient times to the twentieth century. Over the course of theatrical history, there have been several kinds of soliloquies. Shakespeare's soliloquies are not only the most interesting and the most famous, but also the most misunderstood, and several chapters examine them in detail. The present study is based on a painstaking analysis of the actual practices of dramatists from each age of theatrical history. This investigation has uncovered evidence that refutes long-standing commonplaces about soliloquies in general, about Shakespeare's soliloquies in particular, and especially about the to be, or not to be episode. 'Shakespeare and the history of Soliloquies' casts new lights on historical changes in the artistic representation of human beings and, because representations cannot be entirely disentangled from perception, on historical changes in the ways human beings have perceived theselves. |
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Page 129
... Macbeth's habit of speaking to himself allowed his wife to overhear him and chastize him . In 5.1 Lady Macbeth inad- vertently reveals her secrets to a Doctor and a Gentlewoman . The incident seems designed to complicate a playgoer's re ...
... Macbeth's habit of speaking to himself allowed his wife to overhear him and chastize him . In 5.1 Lady Macbeth inad- vertently reveals her secrets to a Doctor and a Gentlewoman . The incident seems designed to complicate a playgoer's re ...
Page 159
... Macbeth , there is a character onstage who is con- cerned about the problem . Banquo has himself been deeply affected by the predictions of the Weird Sisters , and it would be obvious to him that the fulfillment of the first of those ...
... Macbeth , there is a character onstage who is con- cerned about the problem . Banquo has himself been deeply affected by the predictions of the Weird Sisters , and it would be obvious to him that the fulfillment of the first of those ...
Page 358
... Macbeth's hy- pothetical mind on the basis of her outward behavior , including the words she speaks . The Doctor infers that Lady Macbeth's " heart is sorely charg'd " ( 5.1.53–54 ) , and most playgoers arrive at the same inference even ...
... Macbeth's hy- pothetical mind on the basis of her outward behavior , including the words she speaks . The Doctor infers that Lady Macbeth's " heart is sorely charg'd " ( 5.1.53–54 ) , and most playgoers arrive at the same inference even ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Representation of Speech | 35 |
From Antiquity to the Middle of the Sixteenth | 62 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
acters action actor addressed speech addressed to playgoers addresses playgoers apostrophe audience address Betterton boy actor chapter char character's characters onstage Claudius clearly conventions governing soliloquies Davenant Davenant's direct access dominant convention dramatic context dramatists earlier eavesdropping eavesdropping episodes enemy evidence explicit explicitly expresses father feigned soliloquy genuine soliloquy gives voice guard his speech guarded in asides Hamlet heard hearing human Iago imagine incongruities innermost thoughts interior monologue kinds of soliloquies King King Lear late seventeenth century later liloquies Love's Labor's Lost Menaechmus mind offstage Ophelia oquies Othello outward behavior overheard soliloquies passage performed playgoers Polonius post-Renaissance presence pretends quies Renaissance Renaissance drama Renaissance playgoers representation Richard Romeo says scene self-addressed speech Shake Shakespeare's plays Shakespeare's soliloquies Shakespeare's theater situation solilo soliloquies and asides soliloquies in Shakespeare's soliloquies represented speech soliloquy guarded speaker speare's theatrical Thomas Betterton thou tion Troilus and Cressida unspoken thoughts words spoken