{"product_id":"the-passion-of-reason-9783034360234","title":"The Passion of Reason: Shakespeare and Ariosto as Dantean Philosophers","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Passion of Reason\u003c\/em\u003e reads Shakespeare intimately as a poetic philosopher in the tradition of Dante Alighieri, for whom reason is naturally passionate. Ariosto's \u003cem\u003eOrlando Furioso\u003c\/em\u003e (1516) helps us appreciate Shakespeare as a Platonist who teaches that, in virtue of its mysterious roots, the philosophical life (reflection itself) cannot be contextualized. The (re)discovery of Shakespeare on Platonic grounds challenges much of what modern scholarship has had to say about Renaissance poets, exposing us to dimensions of Shakespeare's plays—focusing on \u003cem\u003eA Midsummer Night's Dream\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHamlet\u003c\/em\u003e—that have long remained obscured. The plays exhumed from beneath modern discourse are paths through which we as readers are to purge ourselves of earthly passions, by way of entering into a realm of \u003cem\u003eideas\u003c\/em\u003e as fundamental spheres of understanding. The goal, however, is not the reduction of passion to reason, but the restoration of passion as a fundamental property of reason itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e«It is very difficult, in our age, to write something significantly new about Shakespeare, especially when addressing some of his most renowned works. But Marco Andreacchio’s book succeeds in doing so. By going back to the sources and their context, \u003ci\u003eThe Passion of Reason \u003c\/i\u003eargues convincingly that to properly understand Shakespeare we need to attempt to recover, via a close philological reading, the author’s intentions.»\u003cbr\u003e– Dr. Arpad Szakolczai\u003cbr\u003eEmeritus Professor of Sociology, University College Cork, author of \u003cem\u003ePost Truth Society: A Political Anthropology of Trickster Logic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e«This groundbreaking monograph reopens the question of what Renaissance poetry and drama were meant to accomplish for their earliest readers. Against the grain of modern critical habits, which often reduce Renaissance texts to ideological products or historical curiosities, Marco Andreacchio argues that writers such as Ariosto and Shakespeare composed their works as philosophical and spiritual exercises—structured «journeys of purgation» designed to guide readers beyond illusion, attachment, and passion toward a transformative encounter with death as the horizon of truth.»\u003cbr\u003e– Raymond N. MacKenzie, Professor of English, University of St. Thomas\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12 January 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 126\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 229 mm; Width 152 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9783034360234\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Marco Andreacchio","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50423957225722,"sku":"9783034360234","price":47.79,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9783034360234.jpg?v=1789440224","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/the-passion-of-reason-9783034360234","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}