Chamberlain, R. (2011) Shakespeare's refusers: humanism at the limit. In: Mousley, A. (ed.) Towards a New Literary Humanism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 98-112.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | Shakespeare’s central position in the canon depends upon the idea that he is, above all, a sharer. ‘Traditional’ humanist and ‘radical’ anti-humanist critics ultimately agree, for very different reasons, in reading the plays as celebrations of unavoidable social participation. In doing so, they fail to register their persistent interest in refusal – the negation of coercive social expectations by an isolated insider. This interest goes beyond the practical considerations of dramatic tension or the need for a comic victim. As the cases of Hamlet, Cordelia, Malvolio, Apemantus, Jaques and others suggest, refusal is an indestructible (because purely negative) residue of resistance: authority – which depends on an ideology of ‘joining in’ – is unnerved by the fact that absolute refusal cannot be cajoled, bribed, threatened or educated out of existence. This essay argues that reading for refusal sharply illuminates the situation of humanism in the present day. Whilst it is, in part, a critical return to ‘character’, it discovers the individual at an agonising limit. Shakespeare’s refusers reject what passes for selfhood in a culture of enforced sociability, whilst knowing that existing society offers no alternative ground upon which to flourish, or even to exist, as a human being |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Hamlet, Measure for Measure |
| Subjects: |
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN45 Theory. Philosophy. Esthetics P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR2199 English Renaissance (1500-1640) |
| Creators: | Chamberlain, Richard |
| Editors: | Mousley, Andy |
| Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: |
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing |
| Date: | 2011 |
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Page Range: | pp. 98-112 |
| Title of Book: | Towards a New Literary Humanism |
| Place of Publication: | Basingstoke |
| Number of Pages: | 244 |
| Language: | English |
| ISBN: | 9780230238152 |
| Status: | Published / Disseminated |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/4057 |
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