Shakespeare on Masculinity

by Robin Headlam Wells

• ISBN13: 9780521662048
• ISBN10: 0521662044
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Masculinity was a political issue in early modern England. Phrases such as ‘courage-masculine’ or ‘manly virtue’ took on a special meaning and signified commitment to the ideals of militant Protestantism. Diplomacy and compromise were disparaged as ‘feminine’. Shakespeare on Masculinity is an original study of the way Shakespeare’s plays engage with this ideal and a subject that provoked bitter public dispute. Robin Headlam Wells argues that Shakespeare took a sceptical view of the militant-Protestant cult of heroic masculinity. Following a series of portraits of the dangerously charismatic warrior-hero, Shakespeare turned at the end of his writing career to a different kind of leader. If the heroes of the martial tragedies evoke a Herculean ideal of manhood, The Tempest portrays a ruler who, Orpheus-like, uses the arts of civilization to bring peace to a divided world. Other plays receiving close readings include Henry V, Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Coriolanus.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Abbreviations	ix
Introduction	1	(30)
The chivalric revival: Henry Vand Troilus and Cressida	31	(30)
`Tender and delicate prince': Hamlet	61	(25)
`O these man, these men': Othello	86	(31)
`Arms, and the Man': Macbeth	117	(27)
`Flower of warriors': Coriolanus	144	(33)
`Rarer action': The Tempest	177	(30)
Afterword: historicism and `presentism'	207	(12)
Select bibliography	219	(24)
Index	243