Tyrant

As an aging, tenacious Elizabeth I clung to power, a talented playwright probed the social causes, the psychological roots, and the twisted consequences of tyranny In exploring the psyche and psychoses of the likes of Richard III, Macbeth, Lear, Coriolanus, and the societies they rule over, Stephen Greenblatt illuminates the ways in which William Shakespeare delved into the lust for absolute power and the catastrophic consequences of its execution.Cherished institutions seem fragile, political classes are in disarray, economic misery fuels populist anger, people knowingly accept being lied to, partisan rancor dominates, spectacular indecency rules these aspects of a society in crisis fascinated Shakespeare and shaped some of his most memorable plays With uncanny insight, he shone a spotlight on the infantile psychology and unquenchable narcissistic appetites of demagogues and the cynicism and opportunism of the various enablers and hangers on who surround them and imagined how they might be stopped As Greenblatt shows, Shakespeare s work, in this as in so many other ways, remains vitally relevant today. Read Tyrant – kino-fada.fr Whenever Trump brazenly arrogates another royal prerogative to himself, I find myself thinking of him solemnly, and in horror as if he were Donald of Orange, America s very bad king And when I do, my mind turns to Shakespeare Now, what would that sage observer of power, plots, and hubris say about a woul...One of the reasons Shakespeare is still passionately read today is how extraordinarily sharp was his insight into the complexities of human nature and how he managed to make poetry even of the muck of evil.The opening chapters are worth the price of the book alone as Greenblatt gives the reader a precis of Tudor history and culture, focusing on playwrights, censorship, and the social as well as political climate The specifics are so enlightening I had not known, for example, that a couple of w One of the reasons Shakespe...This is a book about Shakespeare It doesn t mention contemporary politics at all, not even once Why would it It is a book about how Shakespeare s plays explore the concept of tyranny, and of what happens in a country when flawed, selfish, foolish people use ...Shakespeare s Richard III brilliantly develops the personality features of the aspiring tyrant already sketched in the Henry VI trilogy the limitless self regard, the law breaking, the pleasure in inflicting pain, the compulsive desire to dominate He is pathologically narcissistic and supremely arrogant He has a grotesque sense of entitlement, never doubting that he can do whatever he chooses He loves to bark orders and to watch underlings scurry to carry them out He expects absolute loyal Shakespeare s Richard III brilliantly develops the personality features of the aspiring tyrant already sketched in the Henry VI trilogy the limitless self regard, the law breaking, the pleasure in inflicting pain, the compulsive desire to dominate He is pathologically narcissistic and supremely arrogant He has a grotesque sense of entitlement, never doubting that he can do whatever he chooses He loves to bark orders and to watch underlings scurry to carry them...This book discusses Shakespeare s different portrayals of the Tyrant It is broken down into chapters about conditions necessary for the Tyrant s rise to power, specific aspects of the Tyrant s personality, and the eventual fall of the Tyrant Greenblatt relates 6 plays Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear, A Winter s tale, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus, drawing parallels to one Tyrant currently in power Greenblatt makes no attempt to hide his inspiration in writing this book, which was refreshing.T This book discusses Shakespeare s different portrayals of the Tyrant It is broken down into chapters a...In Tyrant Shakespeare on Politics, noted Shakespearean scholar Stephen Greenblatt draws comparisons between Shakespeare s tyrants and contemporary politics Greenblatt never says outright the name of the modern leader who has the personality of a tyrant, but it is obvious whom he means Shakespeare knew about the domination of Protestants by Catholics and Catholics by Protestants He could see the Puritans potential for tyranny As Greenblatt points out, Shakespeare lived in a time when people In Tyrant Shakespeare on Politics, noted Shakespearean scholar Stephen Greenblatt draws comparisons between Shakespeare s tyrants and contemporary politics Greenblatt never says outright the name of the modern leader who has the personality of a tyrant, but it is obvious whom he means Shakespeare knew about the domination of Protestants by Catholics and Catholics by Protestants He could see the Puritans potential for tyranny As Greenblatt points out, Shakespeare lived in a time when people were afraid of a foreign conspiracy the Roman Catholic Church that said killing England s monarch would be a virtuous action The parallels Greenblatt makes with our fears today are apt Greenblatt s Shakespeare perceives populism as a tool of tyrant...An engaging look at Shakespeare s construction of tyrants in the Early Modern era, as well a topical and unfortunately necessary discussion that applies to how tyrants are born, raised, and enabled in our current socio political climate Greenblatt thoroughly breaks down the historical context of the political situation of England at the turn of the seventeenth century, and explores the ways in which Shakespeare, while never directly involved in political commentary unlike many of his contempora An engaging look at Shakespeare s construction of tyrants in the Early Modern era, as well a topical and unfortunately necessary discussion that applies to how tyrants are born, raised, and enabled in our current socio political climate Greenblatt thoroughly breaks down the historical context of the political situation of England at the turn of the seventeenth century, and explores the ways in which Shakespeare, while never directly involved in political commentary unlike many of his contemporaries, managed to explore nearly all the corners of the political institution in which he lived Greenblatt suggests that Shakespeare s depiction of the political game forces us to ask how a leader unsuited to govern, someone dangerously impulsive or viciously conniving or indifferent to the truth 2 could be elevated to the highest political statio...A short read Woohoo After the past couple books I ve read, that was refreshing.The specific tyrants the book goes over in depth are Richard 3, Macbeth, King Lear, and A Winter s Tale He goes into detail but not as much with Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.This is obviously a political piece... , , ,, ,, , ,, , ,, ,, , ,, gets away with saying the nasty things you d never dare to voice political infighting, etc ,, , , , , , ,, ,gimmicky , , , , ,In the first chapter of Tyrant, Stephen Greenblatt tells us that Shakespeare lived in a politically perilous time, that it would have been his death to talk about or criticize the politicians of his day, but that he and other playwrights developed a way to talk about current events in code They could talk about Elizabeth, or Essex, or Mary but they had to do it by talking about Ancient Kings, or mythical monarchs, or English Kings dead for at least a hundred years By working his political com In the first chapter of Tyrant, Stephen Greenblatt tells us that Shakespeare lived in a politically perilous time, that it would have been his death to talk about or criticize the politicians of his day, but that he and other playwrights developed a way to talk about current events in code They could talk about Elizabeth, or Essex, or Mary but they had to do it by talking about Ancient Kings, or mythical monarchs, or English Kings dead for at least a hundred years By working his political commentary into other political contexts, Shakespeare could talk about contemporary politics without talking about contemporary politics.With this trope establish, Greenblatt goes on to write a book about Donald Trump without every saying the name Donald T...

• 19 August 2018
Stephen Greenblatt
• Hardcover
• 224 pages
• 0393635759
• Stephen Greenblatt
• Tyrant