The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays

Download or read book The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays written by Vivian Thomas and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is it that makes Shakespeare’s problem plays problematic? Many critics have sought for the underlying vision or message of these puzzling and disturbing dramas. Originally published in 1987, the key to Viv Thomas’s new synthesis of the plays is the idea of fracture and dissolution in the universe. From the collapse of ‘degree’ in Troilus and Cressida to the corruption at the heart of innocence in Measure for Measure, to the puzzling status of virtue and valour in All’s Well, the most obvious feature of these plays in their capacity to prompt new questions. In a detailed discussion of each play in turn, the author traces the dominant themes that both distinguish and unite them, and provides numerous insights into the sources, background, texture and morality of the plays.