Souls with Longing
Representations of Honor and Love in Shakespeare
Contributions by John Alvis professor and director, A, George Anastaplo author of Abraham Lincoln, Glenn Arbery, John Briggs, Paul Cantor University of Virginia, Leon Craig, Scott Crider, Dustin A. Gish, Carson Holloway, David Lowenthal, Carol McNamara, Laurence D. Nee St. John's College Edited by Bernard J. Dobski Assumption University, Dustin A. Gish
Publication date:
16 December 2011Length of book:
342 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
239x164mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739165416
The works of William Shakespeare vividly represent for our admiration and study a pageant of souls with longing in whose wake we ceaselessly follow. Through some of his most memorable characters, Shakespeare illuminates the nature and character—as well as consequences—of our distinctively human passions and ambition, in particular our desire for and pursuit of both honor and love. The contributors to this collaborative volume (scholars in English Literature, Political Philosophy, and the Humanities) argue that Shakespeare has much to teach us about our longing for honor and love in particular, and thus about who we are, what we desire, and why. Through sustained reflection on the Shakespearean portraits of honor and love, which are the focus of the chapters in Souls With Longing, we become more keenly aware of our own humanity and come to know ourselves more profoundly. As the abiding popularity of his works aptly demonstrates, Shakespeare’s unforgettable portraits of souls with longing—his representations of honor and love—continue to exert undeniable sway over our political, moral, and romantic imaginations.
How strange the idea, and yet how compelling, that our greatest poet could also be our greatest teacher. These excellent essays return us to the problem of combining honor and love, the demand for dignity with the longing for something better.