Research Catalog

Title

The unconscious in Shakespeare's plays / Martin S. Bergmann ; with an introductory essay by André Green.

Author

Bergmann, Martin S., 1913-

Publication

London : Karnac Books Ltd, 2013.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Green, André

Description

xxvi, 268 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"Just as concerts emerge from the interaction of many instruments, so our understanding of Shakespeare is enriched by different approaches to him. Psychoanalysis assumes that creative writers have the need to both reveal and conceal their own inner conflicts in their works. They leave residues in their works that, if we pay attention, can become building blocks that reveal aspects of the unconscious. It is my hope that readers may find that the questions raised add to the pleasure of reading Shakespeare and that they deepens their understanding of his plays. Topics covered include the pivotal position of Hamlet, the poet and his calling, the Oedipus complex, intrapsychic conflict, the battle against paranoia and the homosexual compromise. By using psychoanalytic techniques in analyzing his plays and characters, I hope to reveal more about Shakespeare’s hidden motivations and mental health."--pub. desc.

Subject

• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Criticism and interpretation
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Psychology
• Subconsciousness in literature
• Psychology in literature

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-257) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Pt. I THE PIVOTAL POSITION OF HAMLET / Andre Green -- ch. One Hamlet: the inability to mourn and the inability to love -- pt. II THE POET AND HIS CALLING -- ch. Two A Midsummer Night's Dream: how Shakespeare won the right to write plays -- ch. Three The Tempest: the abdication of creativity -- ch. Four Timon of Athens: the loss of creativity -- pt. III THE OEDIPUS COMPLEX -- ch. Five Richard III: the Oedipus complex and the villain -- ch. Six Julius Caesar and Freud's Totem and Taboo -- ch. Seven Macbeth: an audacious variant on the oedipal theme -- ch. Eight Antony and Cleopatra: dangerous dotage -- ch. Nine Coriolanus: an astounding description of a destructive mother-child relationship -- ch. Ten King Lear: the daughter as a replacement for the mother -- ch. Eleven Richard II: abdication as a father's reaction to the Oedipus complex -- pt. IV INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICT -- ch. Twelve Measure for Measure: the disintegration of a harsh superego -- pt. V THE BATTLE AGAINST PARANOIA -- ch. Thirteen Othello: motiveless malignity or latent homosexuality? -- ch. Fourteen The Winter's Tale: latent homosexuality and paranoia -- pt. VI THE HOMOSEXUAL COMPROMISE -- ch. Fifteen The Merchant of Venice: a portrayal of masochistic homosexuality -- ch. Sixteen Twelfth Night: a sublimation of bisexuality in homosexuality.

ISBN

• 9781780491561
• 1780491565
• 1299847846 (ebk) (canceled/invalid)
• 9781299847842 (ebk) (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

60001842988

OCLC

• 846539032
• SCSB-11516878

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library