Hamlet in purgatory /
Greenblatt, Stephen, 1943-,
Hamlet in purgatory / Stephen Greenblatt ; with a new preface by the author. - First Princeton classics edition. - xv, 322 pages, 8 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 22 cm. - Princeton classics . - Princeton classics. .
Previous edition: 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-314) and index.
This book delves into the author's longtime fascination with the ghost of Hamlet's father, and his daring and ultimately gratifying journey takes him through surprising intellectual territory. It yields an extraordinary account of the rise and fall of Purgatory as both a belief and a lucrative institution as well as a capacious new reading of the power of Hamlet. In the mid-sixteenth century, English authorities abruptly changed the relationship between the living and dead. Declaring that Purgatory was a false poem, they abolished the institutions and banned the practices that Christians relied on to ease the passage to Heaven for themselves and their dead loved ones. Greenblatt explores the fantastic adventure narratives, ghost stories, pilgrimages, and imagery by which a belief in a grisly prison house of souls had been shaped and reinforced in the Middle Ages. He probes the psychological benefits as well as the high costs of this belief and of its demolition.
9780691160245 (pbk. : acidfree paper) 0691160244 (pbk. : acidfree paper)
2013937134
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet.
Purgatory in literature.
Christianity and literature--History--England--16th century.
Christianity and literature--History--England--17th century.
Ghosts in literature.
English drama (Tragedy)--Christian influences.
PR2807 / .G69 2013
Hamlet in purgatory / Stephen Greenblatt ; with a new preface by the author. - First Princeton classics edition. - xv, 322 pages, 8 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 22 cm. - Princeton classics . - Princeton classics. .
Previous edition: 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-314) and index.
This book delves into the author's longtime fascination with the ghost of Hamlet's father, and his daring and ultimately gratifying journey takes him through surprising intellectual territory. It yields an extraordinary account of the rise and fall of Purgatory as both a belief and a lucrative institution as well as a capacious new reading of the power of Hamlet. In the mid-sixteenth century, English authorities abruptly changed the relationship between the living and dead. Declaring that Purgatory was a false poem, they abolished the institutions and banned the practices that Christians relied on to ease the passage to Heaven for themselves and their dead loved ones. Greenblatt explores the fantastic adventure narratives, ghost stories, pilgrimages, and imagery by which a belief in a grisly prison house of souls had been shaped and reinforced in the Middle Ages. He probes the psychological benefits as well as the high costs of this belief and of its demolition.
9780691160245 (pbk. : acidfree paper) 0691160244 (pbk. : acidfree paper)
2013937134
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet.
Purgatory in literature.
Christianity and literature--History--England--16th century.
Christianity and literature--History--England--17th century.
Ghosts in literature.
English drama (Tragedy)--Christian influences.
PR2807 / .G69 2013