William Shakespeare | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 32 pages of analysis & critique of William Shakespeare.
This section contains 9,419 words
(approx. 32 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Carol Thomas Neely

SOURCE: "Introduction: Wooing, Wedding, and Repenting," in Broken Nuptials in Shakespeare's Plays, Yale University Press, 1985, pp. 1-23.

In the following essay, Neely examines the way in which marriageachieved and postponed or destroyedinfluences the structure and themes of Shakespeare's plays. Neely maintains that marriage becomes the focal point for relationships, both social and emotional, for men and women in the plays.

Marriage in Shakespeare's plays is a crucial dramatic action and a focus for tensions and reconciliations between the sexes. Movements toward marriage constitute the subject of the comedies; disrupted marriages are prominent in many of the tragedies; the establishment or reestablishment of marriage in one or two generations is the symbol of harmony in the late romances. The plays' marriages are counterpointed by what I call broken nuptials, extending Leo Salingar's use of the term.1 These are parodic or irregular wedding ceremonies, premature or postponed consummations...

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This section contains 9,419 words
(approx. 32 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Carol Thomas Neely
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Critical Essay by Carol Thomas Neely from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.