Is Hamlet really mad or is the world mad? Is Othello merely gullible or is there something about his place in society that makes him vulnerable? Why can there be no happy ending to King Lear? In this radical approach to Shakespearean tragedy, Fintan O'Toole, Ireland's foremost theater critic, shows how Shakespeare's plays have been made unintelligible to modern students. O'Toole explains that the plays have been filtered through a series of ideas that have less to do with what Shakespeare actually wrote than with Victorian interpretations of the plots and characters. O'Toole challenges the traditional approach to the study of four key tragediesHamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbethand provides an entertaining appreciation of the dramatic qualities of each. This is a provocative and accessible guide for students, teachers, and anyone interested in gaining a fresh insight into the world's greatest playwright.
Shakespeare is Hard, But So is Life, Fintan O'Toole
A short, concise and absolutely fascinating take on a number of the well known plays of Shakespeare, in a series of essays:
- Shakespeare is hard, but so is life
- Hamlet: Dying as an art
- Othello: Inside out
- King Lear: Zero hour
- Macbeth: Back to the future
Free of academic speak, jargon and grand gestures, what this precise and very informative collection does is provide fresh insights into the power plays within the plays themselves.
Some of the important points that I took away:
- The concept of the Tragic Hero and how it's been subverted by craven individuals (like, for example, right wing politicians) trying to distort the imagery as a means of excusing their failings;
- The idea of the Tragic Flaw, reducing the hero to a one trick pony (for want of a better analogy). In effect he's pointing a finger here at the simplistic overtones of simply writing off main characters (Macbeth ambitious, Hamlet indecisive, Lear vanity, Othello jealous) on a single point of reference.
- He's also underwhelmed with the soliloquy being the tragic heart of each work, a bearing of the soul, and the telling point of the play.
Not just a tear down of "accepted wisdom", O'Toole goes on to make the case for alternative reinterpretations, inviting readers and watchers of the plays to reconsider the entirety of the text, looking instead of at the individuals in each, but rather to a wider tension in the entirety of events.
Now I will admit that lead to some intensive googling on my part - history of that period not being a subject at the tip of my fingers - and as a result, I did disappear down a rabbit hole of learning a lot more about Shakespeare himself, his life and circumstances. Which was much appreciated.
Whilst intensive analysis of the book, and the arguments that O'Toole is making is beyond the ken of this reader, what I did find was an opening up of ideas, thoughts, reactions and understanding of these plays, and a much kindled desire to once again see them, this time with a slightly different perspective and a different way of thinking about them.