Renaissance humanists believed that if you want to build a just society you must begin with the facts of human nature. This book argues that the idea of a universal human nature was as important to Shakespeare as it was to every other Renaissance writer. In doing so it questions the central principl...

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Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Wells, Robin Headlam (Author)
Format:	Electronic eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2005
Subjects:	Shakespeare, William / 1564-1616 / Criticism and interpretation Shakespeare, William / 1564-1616 / Philosophy Shakespeare, William > 1564-1616 Philosophie Humanism in literature Humanismus
Online Access:	BSB01 UBG01 Volltext
Summary:	Renaissance humanists believed that if you want to build a just society you must begin with the facts of human nature. This book argues that the idea of a universal human nature was as important to Shakespeare as it was to every other Renaissance writer. In doing so it questions the central principle of post-modern Shakespeare criticism. Postmodernists insist that the notion of defining a human essence was alien to Shakespeare and his contemporaries; as radical anti-essentialists, the Elizabethans were, in effect, postmodernists before their time. In challenging this claim Shakespeare's Humanism shows that for Shakespeare, as for every other humanist writer in this period, the key to all wise action was 'the knowledge of our selves and our human condition'
Item Description:	Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
Physical Description:	1 online resource (x, 278 pages)
ISBN:	9780511483622
DOI:	10.1017/CBO9780511483622