Shakespeare and Son: A Journey in Writing and Grieving

by Keverne Smith

Overview

A revealing examination of an under-explored area of Shakespeare studies, this work looks at the evidence for the author's deep and evolving response to the loss of his only son, Hamnet.

Although many commentators have been intrigued by the possible effects of the death of Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, on the writer, Shakespeare and Son: A Journey in Writing and Grieving is the first full-length study examining the evidence that Shakespeare's later work was deeply involved with this loss. The book is also the first full-length study to explore Shakespeare's works in light of the psychology of grief, combining psychological insights with literary analysis.

Specifically, the book explores 20 plays from all parts of Shakespeare's career, concentrating on works known to definitely have been written after Hamnet's death, especially Much ado About Nothing, Henry the Fourth Part 2, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Pericles, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest. Examining various manifestations of grief in the plays, such as anger, depression, guilt, and hope, author Keverne Smith argues that the evidence of Shakespeare's grief is cumulative and evident in repeated structures and patterns in plays written over a period of 14 to 15 years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313392306
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/19/2011
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Keverne Smith is course director for BA Humanities at the University Center, West Anglia, King's Lynn, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xi

Chronology xv

1 Thou Boy of Tears 1

2 Conceal Me What I Am 7

3 I'll Seek Him Deeper Than E'er Plummet Sounded 19

4 Possible Traces of Grief; I Would That I Were Low Laid in My Grave 31

5 The Partial Release of Comedy; Almost the Copy of My Child That's Dead 45

6 Grief, Anger, and the Difficulty of Mourning; Then Get Thee Gone and Dig My Grave Thyself 63

7 Grief on Grief; That Within Which Passeth Show 71

8 Grief and Chaos; And at That Time Bequeath You My Diseases 93

9 Grief and a Young Man; He Was but One Hour Mine 97

10 Grief, Rage, Guilt and Despair; Might I but Live to See Thee in My Touch 105

11 Grief and New Life; To Mourn Thy Crosses … Give Them Repetition to the Life 127

12 Grief and Deeper Guilt; He Dies to Me Again When Talk'd of 137

13 Grief, Ceremony, and Repeated Restoration: Behold Divineness/No Elder Than a Boy 155

14 Grief, Art, and Letting Go; Deeper Than Did Ever Plummet Sound 173

Bibliography 183

Index 193

What People are Saying About This

Professor Stanley Wells

"It's gracefully and lucidly written and very well-informed."

Rene Weis

"A searching study in literary grief. Ranging across the works with scrupulous erudition, Keverne Smith treats Shakespeare's response to the loss of his child with tact and intelligence; a remarkable study and boldly engaging the cross-over between life and literature by the greatest writer of all time."