In this critical analysis, Sophie E. Battell examines hospitality in Shakespeare's plays. By drawing on literary theory, modern philosophy, and anthropology as well as early modern scientific and religious texts, the book advances our understanding of Shakespeare as a dramatist concerned with the ethical questions at stake in encounters between guests and hosts of various kinds.
The close readings and scholarly interventions presented here reconceive the plays in terms of a poetics of hospitality while arguing for an expansive, far-reaching vision of what it means to be open to the world and welcoming of others. Moving from the levels of subjectivity, the body, and the senses to architecture, economics, legal discourse, and the natural environment, On the Threshold not only makes important contributions to Shakespeare studies but forges new connections between Renaissance literary scholarship and contemporary debates on the politics of migrants and refugees.
| ISBN: | 9781474475686 |
| Publication date: | 1st August 2023 |
| Author: | Sophie Battell |
| Publisher: | Edinburgh University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 264 pages |
| Series: | Edinburgh Critical Studies in Shakespeare and Philosophy |
| Genres: |
Classic and pre-20th century plays Literary studies: c 1400 to c 1600 Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800 Literary studies: plays and playwrights |