Shakespeare Attacks Bigotry: A Close Reading of Six Plays

By Elaine L. Robinson

The author argues that Renaissance humanism created a system of bigotry and eroded the practice of Christianity, and that Shakespeare attempted to expose and condemn that shift. The book examines six of his plays--Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth--and explores how they satirized humanism's grounding in Aristotle's philosophy of slavery and supremacy. Shakespeare used characters like Hamlet and Aaron the Moor to attack that bigotry, and his stance against racism and humanism revealed his Catholic faith.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786440392
• ISBN13: 9780786440399
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher