This remarkable, innovative book explores the significance in
Shakespeare's plays of oaths, vows, contracts, pledges, and the
other utterances and acts by which characters commit themselves to
the truth of things past, present, and to come. In early modern
England, such binding language was everywhere. Oaths of office,
marriage vows, legal bonds, and casual, everyday profanity gave
shape and texture to life. The proper use of such language, and the
extent of its power to bind, was argued over by lawyers, religious
writers, and satirists, and these debates inform literature and
drama. Shakespeare's Binding Language gives a freshly researched
account of these contexts, but it is focused on Shakespeare's
plays. What motives should we look for when characters asseverate
or promise? How far is binding language self-persuasive or
deceptive? When is it allowable to break a vow? How do oaths and
promises structure an audience's expectations? Across the sweep of
Shakespeare's career, from the early histories to the late
romances, this book opens new perspectives on key dramatic moments
and illuminates language and action. Each chapter gives an account
of a play or group of plays, yet the study builds to a sustained
investigation of some of the most important systems, institutions,
and controversies in early modern England, and of the wiring of
Shakespearean dramaturgy. Scholarly but accessible, and offering
startling insights, this is a major contribution to Shakespeare
studies by one of the leading figures in the field.
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