1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910458611003321

Autore

Tromly Frederic B. <1943->

Titolo

Fathers and sons in Shakespeare : the debt never promised / / Fred B. Tromly

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2010

©2010

ISBN

1-4426-9905-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (377 p.)

Disciplina

822.33

Soggetti

Fathers and sons in literature

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Texts -- Introduction: Interpreting Shakespeare's Sons - Ambivalence, Rescue, and Revenge -- 1 Paternal Authority and Filial Autonomy in Shakespeare's England -- 2 Henry VI, Part One: Prototypical Beginnings - The Two John Talbots -- 3 Richard II: Patrilineal Inheritance and the Generation Gap -- 4 Henry IV, Part One: 'Deep Defiance' and the Rebel Prince -- 5 Henry IV, Part Two: The Prince Becomes the King (with a Note on Henry V) -- 6 Hamlet: Notes from Underground - Paternal and Filial Subterfuge -- 7 King Lear: The Usurpation of Fathers - and of Fathers and Sons -- 8 Macbeth and the Late Plays: The Disappearance of Ambivalent Sons -- 9 Biographical Coda: William Shakespeare, Son of John Shakespeare -- Appendix 1: Shakespearean Fathers and Sons in Edward III -- Appendix 2: Thomas Plume's Anecdote: The Merry- Cheeked, Jest-Cracking John Shakespeare, Sir John Mennes, and Sir John Falstaff -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Some of Shakespeare's most memorable male characters, such as Hamlet, Prince Hal, and Edgar, are defined by their relationships with their fathers. In Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare, Fred B. Tromly demonstrates that these relationships are far more complicated than most critics have assumed. While Shakespearean sons often act as their fathers' steadfast defenders, they simultaneously resist paternal



encroachment on their autonomy, tempering vigorous loyalty with subtle hostility.Tromly's introductory chapters draw on both Freudian psychology and Elizabethan family history to frame the issue of filial ambivalence in Shakespeare. The following analytical chapters mine the father-son relationships in plays that span Shakespeare's entire career. The conclusion explores Shakespeare's relationship with his own father and its effect on his fictional depictions of life as a son. Through careful scrutiny of word and deed, the scholarship in Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare reveals the complex attitude Shakespeare's sons harbour towards their fathers.