Shakespeare and Faulkner: Selves and Others

Shakespeare and Faulkner: Selves and Others is a characterological study by Karl F. Zender that offers insightful, critically rigorous, and at times personal analyses of the complicated figures who inhabit several major Shakespeare plays and Faulkner novels. It emphasizes the evolving insights gleaned from reading these authors over several decades, situating their texts in relation to shifting trends in criticism, and highlighting the contemporary relevance of their works. The final chapter explores the intersections between events depicted in the novel and Zender's own life, revealing the power of literature as a form of pleasure and consolation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 02 June 2021
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press

Shakespeare and Faulkner: Selves and Others delves into the profound moral and ethical quandaries that characters grapple with within themselves and in their interactions with others in the illustrious works of these two celebrated authors. Karl F. Zender's characterological study provides insightful, meticulously rigorous, and occasionally deeply personal examinations of the intricate characters who populate numerous prominent Shakespeare plays and Faulkner novels.

The two parts of this book, the first focusing on the English playwright, and the second on the Mississippi novelist, share a common methodology rooted in Zender's history as a teacher of and writer on the two authors, whom he traditionally approached separately. He emphasizes the evolving insights gained from reading these authors over several decades, situating their texts in relation to shifting trends in criticism and highlighting the contemporary relevance of their works. The final chapter, an extended discussion of Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust, attempts something unusual in Zender's critical practice: It relies less on the close textual analysis that characterizes his previous work and instead explores the intersections between the events depicted in the novel and his own life, both as a child and as an adult.

Shakespeare and Faulkner: Selves and Others speaks to the power of literature as a source of pleasure and solace. Through this work of engaged and thoughtful scholarly criticism, Zender unveils the centrality of storytelling to human beings' endeavors to make sense of their journey through life and of the circumstances in which they reside.

Weight: 394g
Dimension: 146 x 223 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780807174913