Deadly Thought: Hamlet and the Human SoulThe human soul is for pre-modern philosophers the cause of both thinking and life. This double aspect of the soul, which makes man a rational animal, expresses itself above all in human action. Deadly Thought: "Hamlet" and the Human Soul traces Hamlet's famous inability to act to his inability to hold together these twin aspects of the soul. Combining careful attention to detail and interpretive breadth, noted scholar Jan H. Blits deftly illustrates how Hamlet collapses life into thought, and moral action into stage acting, and ultimately comes to see his own life as a stage play. Hamlet, the book demonstrates, epitomizes the intellectualism of the Renaissance and the modern age it began, and so becomes tragedy's first self-conscious protagonist, signaling the end of ancient tragedy. Erudite, innovative, and lively, Deadly Thought is a ground-breaking contribution that will appeal to Shakespeare scholars, political theorists, historians of philosophy, literary theorists and anyone interested in a truly fresh interpretation of this classic work. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 36
Page 12
... double aspect also makes him a natural unity or a whole . Because thinking and life have a single cause , man's composite na- ture as a rational animal has a single source . Man is a whole be- cause his nature , though composite , is ...
... double aspect also makes him a natural unity or a whole . Because thinking and life have a single cause , man's composite na- ture as a rational animal has a single source . Man is a whole be- cause his nature , though composite , is ...
Page 13
... double as- pects become one . The power to think and hence to imitate sub- sumes the power to move and hence to act . Seeking refuge from the flux of fortune , Hamlet rejects action in the name of what lies within and truly is , on the ...
... double as- pects become one . The power to think and hence to imitate sub- sumes the power to move and hence to act . Seeking refuge from the flux of fortune , Hamlet rejects action in the name of what lies within and truly is , on the ...
Page 14
... double . We see what is before us , and we see what it means . With our eyes we see what is present ; with our minds we can understand what it means . The human ability to separate the significance of a sight from the sight itself ...
... double . We see what is before us , and we see what it means . With our eyes we see what is present ; with our minds we can understand what it means . The human ability to separate the significance of a sight from the sight itself ...
Page 15
... double business bound " ( 3.3.41 ) ; " Poor Ophelia [ is ] / Divided from herself " ( 4.5.84-85 ) ; Gertrude's heart is " cleft . . . in twain " ( 3.4.158 ) ; only " a piece " of Horatio is present ( 1.1.22 ) ; and Laertes acts " almost ...
... double business bound " ( 3.3.41 ) ; " Poor Ophelia [ is ] / Divided from herself " ( 4.5.84-85 ) ; Gertrude's heart is " cleft . . . in twain " ( 3.4.158 ) ; only " a piece " of Horatio is present ( 1.1.22 ) ; and Laertes acts " almost ...
Page 20
... double , has four parts , the first three of which directly parallel those of act 1 , scene 3 , the symmetrically placed , first scene dealing with Poloni- us's family , but a final part , reporting Ophelia's death , which has no par ...
... double , has four parts , the first three of which directly parallel those of act 1 , scene 3 , the symmetrically placed , first scene dealing with Poloni- us's family , but a final part , reporting Ophelia's death , which has no par ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accuses action actors answer appearance Aristotle asks Barnardo birth body cause Christian Cicero Clau Claudius Claudius's conscience corpse Dane Danish dead death deed Denmark describes despite Diogenes Laertius dius double emphasizes explicitly father fear final Fortinbras Fortinbras's fortune Gertrude Gertrude's Ghost God's Gonzago grave Grave-digger Grave-digger's guilt Hamlet says Hamlet seems hath hear heaven Hecuba Horatio imitation incest Jephthah kill King Hamlet King's Laertes Laertes's letter lines lonius lord man's Marcellus marriage means mentions metaphor moral mother murder nature never noble old Hamlet once one's Ophelia Osric play play's Player King Player Queen Plutarch political Polonius Polonius's praise question Quintilian reason refers revenge rhetoric Rosencrantz and Guildenstern royal scene sense Shakespeare silent soliloquy soul speaks speech Stoic Stoicism suggests tell theatrical thee thing thou thought tion tragedy turns twice virtue vows warning words