The Ghost behind the Masks

The Victorian Poets and Shakespeare

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British
Cover of the book The Ghost behind the Masks by W. David Shaw, University of Virginia Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: W. David Shaw ISBN: 9780813935454
Publisher: University of Virginia Press Publication: June 2, 2014
Imprint: University of Virginia Press Language: English
Author: W. David Shaw
ISBN: 9780813935454
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Publication: June 2, 2014
Imprint: University of Virginia Press
Language: English

In The Ghost behind the Masks, W. David Shaw traces Shakespeare’s influence on nine Victorian poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, Thomas Hardy, Matthew Arnold, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Algernon Swinburne, Arthur Hugh Clough, and George Meredith. Often, he writes, the transparency of Shakespeare's influence on Victorian poets and the degree of their engagement with Shakespeare exist in inverse ratio. Instead of imitating a play by Shakespeare or merely quoting his lines, a Victorian poet may embrace more elusive elements of rhetoric and style, adapting them to his or her own ends.

Shaw argues that the most Shakespearean attribute of the Victorian poets is not their addiction to any particular trope or figure of speech but their reticence, the classical restraint of their great monologues, and their sudden descent from grandeur to simplicity. He explores such topics as man-made law versus natural right, Stoic fatalism versus self-reliance, and the sanity of lunatics, lovers, and poets versus the madness of commonplace minds.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In The Ghost behind the Masks, W. David Shaw traces Shakespeare’s influence on nine Victorian poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, Thomas Hardy, Matthew Arnold, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Algernon Swinburne, Arthur Hugh Clough, and George Meredith. Often, he writes, the transparency of Shakespeare's influence on Victorian poets and the degree of their engagement with Shakespeare exist in inverse ratio. Instead of imitating a play by Shakespeare or merely quoting his lines, a Victorian poet may embrace more elusive elements of rhetoric and style, adapting them to his or her own ends.

Shaw argues that the most Shakespearean attribute of the Victorian poets is not their addiction to any particular trope or figure of speech but their reticence, the classical restraint of their great monologues, and their sudden descent from grandeur to simplicity. He explores such topics as man-made law versus natural right, Stoic fatalism versus self-reliance, and the sanity of lunatics, lovers, and poets versus the madness of commonplace minds.

More books from University of Virginia Press

Cover of the book Virginia Climate Fever by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book The Angel out of the House by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book The Dooleys of Richmond by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Satan and Salem by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Democracy's Muse by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Stranger America by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Living on Wilderness Time by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Women's Work by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Grief and Meter by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Dancing with Disaster by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book The Flirt's Tragedy by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Philosophy as Poetry by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book Staging Creolization by W. David Shaw
Cover of the book The Dangerous First Year by W. David Shaw
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy