Office and Duty in King Lear

Shakespeare’s Political Theologies

Alexander Thom (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

X, 261 Seiten

2023
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-031-40156-5 (ISBN)

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This book advances five original readings of Shakespeare's King Lear, influenced by Giorgio Agamben, but tempered by primary research into Jacobean literature, law, religion, and philosophy. To grasp Lear's encounter between politics and identity, the play demands a wider understanding of the religious influence on political thought. As Lear himself realises, sovereignty is an extreme, glamorous example of a deeper category: sacred office. Lear also shows duty intersecting with a hierarchy of bastards, outlaws, women, waifs, and monks. This book introduces concepts like petit treason, civil death, and waivery into political theological studies, complicating Agamben's models. Goneril's treason shows the sovereign's consort and children are consecrated lives too. Lear's crisis of "self-knowing" stages a landmark critique of office. The promise of his poignant speech before the prison is foreclosed by Shakespeare's invention: an officer dutifully murdering Cordelia. This book's conclusion, through Hannah Arendt, reconsiders Lear's persistent association with the Holocaust.

Dr Alexander Thom is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of English, University of Leeds, UK. His postdoctoral research focuses on the displaced in English Renaissance drama. This book is based on his Midlands3Cities AHRC doctorate, which was awarded in 2020 by the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK.

1 Introduction.- 2 The Majesty of Kingship: Spectacular and Sacred Sovereign Power.- 3 "The Bloody Proclamation to Escape": Edgar and Romantic Outlawry.- 4 Dividing Between Daughters.- 5 Lear's Redemption.- 6 Conclusion: Lear's Shadow, Office Today.- Index.

Erscheinungsdatum	25.11.2023
Reihe/Serie	Palgrave Shakespeare Studies
Zusatzinfo	X, 261 p.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	483 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Lyrik / Dramatik ► Dramatik / Theater
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
Schlagworte	Duty • Identity • King Lear • Morality • Office • Political Theology • Power • Shakespeare
ISBN-10	3-031-40156-5 / 3031401565
ISBN-13	978-3-031-40156-5 / 9783031401565
Zustand	Neuware