Shakespeare and Tolerance
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SHAKESPEARE AND TOLERANCE
Shakespeare’s remarkable ability to detect and express important new currents and moods in his culture often led him to dramatise human interactions in terms of the presence or absence of tolerance. Differences of religion, gender, nationality, and what is now called ‘race’ are important in most of Shakespeare’s plays, and varied ways of bridging these differences by means of sympathy and understanding are often depicted. The full development of a tolerant society is still incomplete, and this study demonstrates how the perceptions Shakespeare showed in relation to its earlier development are still instructive and valuable today. Many recent studies of Shakespeare’s work have focused on reflections of the oppression or containment of minority, deviant, or non-dominant groups or outlooks. This book reverses that trend and examines Shakespeare’s fascination with the desires that underlie tolerance, including in relation to religion, race, and sexuality, through close analysis of many Shakespearian plays, passages, and themes. b. j . so ko l is Emeritus Professor of English at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His many publications include Art and Illusion in ‘The Winter’ s Tale’ (1994) and, with Mary Sokol, Shakespeare, Law and Marriage (Cambridge, 2003).
SHAKESPEARE AND TOLERANCE
B. J. SOKOL
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521879125 © B. J. Sokol 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First
SHAKESPEARE AND TOLERANCE
Shakespeare’s remarkable ability to detect and express important new currents and moods in his culture often led him to dramatise human interactions in terms of the presence or absence of tolerance. Differences of religion, gender, nationality, and what is now called ‘race’ are important in most of Shakespeare’s plays, and varied ways of bridging these differences by means of sympathy and understanding are often depicted. The full development of a tolerant society is still incomplete, and this study demonstrates how the perceptions Shakespeare showed in relation to its earlier development are still instructive and valuable today. Many recent studies of Shakespeare’s work have focused on reflections of the oppression or containment of minority, deviant, or non-dominant groups or outlooks. This book reverses that trend and examines Shakespeare’s fascination with the desires that underlie tolerance, including in relation to religion, race, and sexuality, through close analysis of many Shakespearian plays, passages, and themes. b. j . so ko l is Emeritus Professor of English at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His many publications include Art and Illusion in ‘The Winter’ s Tale’ (1994) and, with Mary Sokol, Shakespeare, Law and Marriage (Cambridge, 2003).
SHAKESPEARE AND TOLERANCE
B. J. SOKOL
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521879125 © B. J. Sokol 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First
Citations: 5 ‘race’, part one 1 Michael Banton, quoted in Niro, 2003, 41