Hamlet in purgatory / Stephen Greenblatt ; with a new preface by the author.
Series: Princeton classicsPublisher: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2013Copyright date: ©2001Edition: First Princeton classics editionDescription: xv, 322 pages, 8 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780691160245 (pbk. : acidfree paper); 0691160244 (pbk. : acidfree paper)Subject(s): Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet | Purgatory in literature | Christianity and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century | Christianity and literature -- England -- History -- 17th century | Ghosts in literature | English drama (Tragedy) -- Christian influencesLOC classification: PR2807 | .G69 2013Summary: 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.| Item type | Current library | Class number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reservations |
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Fischer Hall Library Main shelves | PR2807. G69 2013 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | B013110 |
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.