The Anatomy of Insults in Shakespeare’s World

The Anatomy of Insults in Shakespeare's Worldexplores Shakespeare's complex art of insults and shows how the playwright set abusive words at the heart of many of his plays. It provides valuable insights on a key aspect of Shakespeare's work that has been little explored to date. Focusing on the most memorable scenes of insult, abusive characters and insulting effects in the plays, the volume shifts how readers understand and read Shakespeare's insults.
Chapters analyze the spectacular rhetoric of insult inHenry IV,Troilus and CressidaandTimon of Athens; the 'skirmishes of wit' inMuch Ado about NothingandA Midsummer Night's Dream;insult and duelling codes inRomeo and Juliet,As You Like ItandTwelfth Night, the complex relationships between slander and insult inMuch Ado about NothingandMeasure for Measure; the taming of the tongue inRichard IIIandThe Taming of the Shrew, the trauma of insults inOthello,The Merchant of VeniceandCymbelineand insult beyond words inHenry VandKing lear.
Grasping insult as a specific speech act, the volume explores the issues of verbal violence and verbal shields and the importance of reception and interpretation in matters of insult. It offers a panorama of the Elizabethan politics of insult and redefines Shakespeare's drama as a theatre of insults.