Shakespeare: Hamlet (Landmarks of World Literature) - Softcover

Cantor, Paul A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521349834 ISBN 13: 9780521349833

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1989

Synopsis

Paul Cantor provides a new and clearly structured introduction to Shakespeare's most famous tragedy. Hamlet's status as tragic hero and the central enigma of the delayed revenge are seen in the light of the play's historical place in the Renaissance at the crossroads of the Christian and the classical traditions. The dramatic and poetic techniques used in the play are discussed, and a final chapter deals with the uniquely varied reception of Hamlet on the stage and in literature generally, from the seventeenth century to the present day.

About this title

Book Description

In this useful guide, Paul Cantor provides a clearly structured introduction to Shakespeare's most famous tragedy. Cantor examines Hamlet's status as tragic hero and the central enigma of the delayed revenge in the light of the play's Renaissance context. He offers students a lucid discussion of the dramatic and poetic techniques used in the play. In the final chapter he deals with the uniquely varied reception of Hamlet on the stage and in literature generally from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Review

"Paul Cantor's Hamlet volume, part of the Cambridge Landmarks of World Literature series, provides a compelling interpretation that does not, as so many other readings, simply repeat the critical conundrums of the play and its prince. Cantor confronts the play's problems directly, defining them within the contexts of literary and cultural history...The book is intended primarily as a general introduction, but more experienced readers will find much to learn from Cantor's incisive formulations about Hamlet, its period, and dramatic tragedy." Virginia Quarterly Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521349834
• ISBN 13: 9780521349833
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128