Spiritual Shakespeares

Ewan Fernie is Senior Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is author of Shame in Shakespeare, leading editor of Reconceiving the Renaissance, and founding editor (with Simon Palfrey) of a new series of very short books called Shakespeare Now! In 2004, he was selected by Gary Taylor and the Hudson-Strode Program as one of ‘the six most brilliant scholars of Renaissance Drama in the world under 40’.

• List of Contributors General editor’s preface Acknowledgements Foreword: Of hyper-reality John D. Caputo Introduction: Shakespeare, spirituality and contemporary criticism Ewan Fernie 1. ‘Where hope is coldest’: All’s Well that Ends Well Kiernan Ryan 2. Harry’s (in)human face David Ruiter 3. Waiting for Gobbo Lowell Gallagher 4. ‘Salving the mail’: perjury, grace and the disorder of things in Love’s Labour’s Lost Philippa Berry 5. The Shakespearean fetish Lisa Freinkel 6. Bottom’s secret John J. Joughin 7. Spectres of Hamlet Richard Kearney 8. The last act: presentism, spirituality and the politics of Hamlet Ewan Fernie Afterword Jonathan Dollimore Bibliography Index

"This volume offers advanced students a helpful survey of contemporary thinking about spiritual otherness in Shakespeare, while experienced readres will find in it provocative avenues for debate." -- Christopher Baker, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Renaissance Quarterly"Spiritual Shakespeare is an incredible collection that displays lively theoretical openings, refreshing religious heterodoxy, and jaw-dropping conceptual leaps of faith. It offers literary or religious scholars, at either the graduate or the professorial levels, a spirited display of critical interpretive ingenuity and an unwavering respect for Shakespeare's spiritual relevance for our present world." -- V. Blue Lemay, Indiana University, Religion and the Arts