Shakespeare and Son

A Journey in Writing and Grieving

Keverne Smith

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780313392306
• eBook ISBN: 9780313392313
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism of Shakespeare
• Index: Literature

A revealing examination of an under-explored area of Shakespeare studies, this work looks at the evidence for the author's deep and evolving response to the loss of his only son, Hamnet. Although many commentators have been intrigued by the possible effects of the death of Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, on the writer, Shakespeare and Son: A Journey in Writing and Grieving is the first full-length study examining the evidence that Shakespeare's later work was deeply involved with this loss. The book is also the first full-length study to explore Shakespeare's works in light of the psychology of grief, combining psychological insights with literary analysis. Specifically, the book explores 20 plays from all parts of Shakespeare's career, concentrating on works known to definitely have been written after Hamnet's death, especially Much ado About Nothing, Henry the Fourth Part 2, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Pericles, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest. Examining various manifestations of grief in the plays, such as anger, depression, guilt, and hope, author Keverne Smith argues that the evidence of Shakespeare's grief is cumulative and evident in repeated structures and patterns in plays written over a period of 14 to 15 years.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chronology
• 1. Thou Boy of Tears
• 2. Conceal Me What I Am
• 3. I’ll Seek Him Deeper Than E’er Plummet Sounded
• 4. Possible Traces of Grief; I Would That I Were Low Laid in My Grave
• 5. The Partial Release of Comedy; Almost the Copy of My Child That’s Dead
• 6. Grief, Anger, and the Difficulty of Mourning; Then Get Thee Gone and Dig My Grave Thyself
• 7. Grief on Grief; That Within Which Passeth Show
• 8. Grief and Chaos; And at That Time Bequeath You My Diseases
• 9. Grief and a Young Man; He Was but One Hour Mine
• 10. Grief, Rage, Guilt and Despair; Might I but Live to See Thee in My Touch
• 11. Grief and New Life; To Mourn Thy Crosses . . . Give Them Repetition to the Life
• 12. Grief and Deeper Guilt; He Dies to Me Again When Talk’d of
• 13. Grief, Ceremony, and Repeated Restoration: Behold Divineness/No Elder Than a Boy
• 14. Grief, Art, and Letting Go; Deeper Than Did Ever Plummet Sound
• Bibliography
• Index