You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate / As reek othrotten fens, whose loves I prize / As the dead carcasses of unburied men / That do corrupt my air: I banish you! (from Coriolanus)Kenneth Gross explores Shakespeares deep fascination with dangerous and disorderly forms of speaking—especially rumor, slander, insult, vituperation, and curse—and through them offers a vision of the work of words in his plays. Coriolanuss taunts or Lears curses force us to think not just about how Shakespeares characters speak, but also about how they hear, overhear, and mishear what is spoken, how rumor becomes tragic knowledge for Hamlet, or opens Othello to fantastic jealousies. Gross also shows how Shakespeares preoccupation with noisy speech echoed and transformed a broader cultural obsession with the perils of rumor, slander, and libel in Renaissance England.Elegantly written and passionately argued, Shakespeares Noise will challenge and delight anyone who loves his plays, from scholars to general readers, actors, and directors. You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate / As reek othrotten fens, whose loves I prize / As the dead carcasses of unburied men / That do corrupt my air: I banish you! (from Coriolanus)Kenneth Gross explores Shakespeares deep fascination with dangerous and disorderly forms of speaking--especially rumor, slander, insult, vituperation, and curse--and through them offers a vision of the work of words in his plays. Coriolanuss taunts or Lears curses force us to think not just about how Shakespeares characters speak, but also about how they hear, overhear, and mishear what is spoken, how rumor becomes tragic knowledge for Hamlet, or opens Othello to fantastic jealousies. Gross also shows how Shakespeares preoccupation with noisy speech echoed and transformed a broader cultural obsession with the perils of rumor, slander, and libel in Renaissance England.Elegantly written and passionately argued, Shakespeares Noise will challenge and delight anyone who loves his plays, from scholars to general readers, actors, and directors.
