Fathers And Sons In Shakespeare

Some of Shakespeare's most memorable male characters, such as Hamlet, Prince Hal, and Edgar, are defined by their relationships with their fathers. In Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare, Fred B. Tromly demonstrates that these relationships are far more complicated than most critics have assumed. While Shakespearean sons often act as their fathers' steadfast defenders, they simultaneously resist paternal encroachment on their autonomy, tempering vigorous loyalty with subtle hostility. Tromly's introductory chapters draw on both Freudian psychology and Elizabethan family history to frame the issue of filial ambivalence in Shakespeare. The following analytical chapters mine the father-son relationships in plays that span Shakespeare's entire career. The conclusion explores Shakespeare's relationship with his own father and its effect on his fictional depictions of life as a son. Through careful scrutiny of word and deed, the scholarship in Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare reveals the complex attitude Shakespeare's sons harbour towards their fathers.

Introduction : interpreting Shakespeare's sons : ambivalence, rescue, and revenge -- Paternal authority and filial autonomy in Shakespeare's England -- Henry VI, part one : prototypical beginnings : the two John Talbots -- Richard II : patrilineal inheritance and the generation gap -- Henry IV, part one : Deep defiance and the rebel prince -- Henry IV, part two : the prince becomes the king, with a note on Henry V -- Hamlet : notes from the underground : paternal and filial subterfuge -- King Lear : the usurpation of fathers, and of fathers and sons -- Macbeth and the late plays : the disappearance of ambivalent sons -- Biographical coda : William Shakespeare, son of John Shakespeare -- Appendix 1 : Shakespearean fathers and sons in Edward III -- Appendix 2 : Thomas Plume's anecdote : the merry-cheeked, jest-cracking John Shakespeare, Sir John Mennes, and Sir John Falstaff

"The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus" by William Shakespeare is a gripping and intense drama that explores themes of revenge, betrayal, and the destructive consequences of violence. Set in ancient Rome, the play follows the tragic downfall of the noble general Titus Andronicus and his family as they become embroiled in a cycle of vengeance and bloodshed. At the heart of the story is the brutal conflict between Titus Andronicus and Tamora, Queen of the Goths, whose sons are executed by Titus as retribution for their crimes. In retaliation, Tamora and her lover, Aaron the Moor, orchestrate a series of heinous acts of revenge against Titus and his family, plunging them into a spiral of madness and despair. As the body count rises and the atrocities escalate, Titus is consumed by grief and rage, leading to a climactic showdown that culminates in a shocking and tragic conclusion. Along the way, Shakespeare explores themes of honor, justice, and the nature of humanity, offering a searing indictment of the cycle of violence and the capacity for cruelty that lies within us all.

Is King Lear an autonomous text, or a rewrite of the earlier and anonymous play King Leir? Should we refer to Shakespeare’s original quarto when discussing the play, the revised folio text, or the popular composite version, stitched together by Alexander Pope in 1725? What of its stage variations? When turning from page to stage, the critical view on King Lear is skewed by the fact that for almost half of the four hundred years the play has been performed, audiences preferred Naham Tate's optimistic adaptation, in which Lear and Cordelia live happily ever after. When discussing King Lear, the question of what comprises ‘the play’ is both complex and fragmentary. These issues of identity and authenticity across time and across mediums are outlined, debated, and considered critically by the contributors to this volume. Using a variety of approaches, from postcolonialism and New Historicism to psychoanalysis and gender studies, the leading international contributors to King Lear: New Critical Essays offer major new interpretations on the conception and writing, editing, and cultural productions of King Lear. This book is an up-to-date and comprehensive anthology of textual scholarship, performance research, and critical writing on one of Shakespeare's most important and perplexing tragedies. Contributors Include: R.A. Foakes, Richard Knowles, Tom Clayton, Cynthia Clegg, Edward L. Rocklin, Christy Desmet, Paul Cantor, Robert V. Young, Stanley Stewart and Jean R. Brink

A theme that obsessed Shakespeare in over 20 plays from Titus Andronicus to The Tempest was the relationship between a daughter and her father. This study traces chronologically the development of this theme, relating it to the little we know of his own two daughters, and sheds new light on his exploration of the family that so dominated his approach to drama. Drawing on a lifetime's experience of playing Shakespearean roles, Oliver Ford Davies, a former university lecturer and now an Honorary Associate Artist of the RSC and Olivier Award winner, has written an engaging and deeply researched study of a topic that has intrigued him from playing Capulet in 1967, King Lear in 2002, to Polonius in 2008.

A New Translation From The French By Marion Wiesel Born in Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's seminal work.