Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe

Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe

by Kenneth Usongo
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date: 10/03/2021

Share This eBook:

  $92.99

Through mainly a New Historicist critical approach, this book explores how Shakespeare and Achebe employ supernatural devices such as prophecies, dreams, gods/goddesses, beliefs, and divinations to create complex characters. Even though these features indicate the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their protagonists. Both writers appropriate supernatural features to mirror tragic flaws such as ambition, arrogance, impulsiveness, and fear that contribute to the downfall of Macbeth, Lear, Okonkwo, and Ezeulu. We relate to some of these characters because they project our inner minds, principal drives that may be hidden within us. Therefore, Shakespeare and Achebe’s preoccupation with the supernatural adds subtlety to their characterization and enhances their readability by situating their art beyond time, place, or particularity.

ISBN:
9781000349603
9781000349603
Category:
Shakespeare studies & criticism
Format:
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date:
10-03-2021
Language:
English
Publisher:
Taylor & Francis

This item is delivered digitally

Reviews

Be the first to review Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe.