Entertaining the Idea

Shakespeare, Performance, and Philosophy

Julia Reinhard Lupton editor Lowell Gallagher editor James Kearney editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of Toronto Press

Published:16th Dec '20

Should be back in stock very soon

Entertaining the Idea cover

To entertain an idea is to take it in, pay attention to it, give it breathing room, dwell with it for a time. The practice of entertaining ideas suggests rumination and meditation, inviting us to think of philosophy as a form of hospitality and a kind of mental theatre. In this collection, organized around key words shared by philosophy and performance, the editors suggest that Shakespeare’s plays supply readers, listeners, viewers, and performers with equipment for living.

In plays ranging from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to King Lear and The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare invites readers and audiences to be more responsive to the texture and meaning of daily encounters, whether in the intimacies of love, the demands of social and political life, or moments of ethical decision. Entertaining the Idea features established and emerging scholars, addressing key words such as role play, acknowledgment, judgment, and entertainment as well as curse and care. The volume also includes longer essays on Shakespeare, Kant, Husserl, and Hegel as well as an afterword by theatre critic Charles McNultyon the philosophy and performance history of King Lear.

"This book is yet another superb result of the long-standing publishing joint venture of the UCLA Clark Memorial Library Series and University of Toronto Press. The volume’s editors have brought together twelve stimulating and original essays."

-- Goran Stanivukovic, Saint Mary’s University * Renaissance and Reformation

ISBN: 9781487507435

Dimensions: 231mm x 155mm x 25mm

Weight: 500g

252 pages