Kathryn Harkup

Death By Shakespeare (eBook, ePUB)

Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A deep dive into the science behind the creative ways Shakespeare killed off his characters.

William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions - shock, sadness, fear - that they did more than 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?

In the Bard's day death was a part of everyday life. Plague, pestilence and public executions were a common occurrence, and the chances of seeing a dead or dying body on the way home from the theatre were high. It was also a time of important scientific progress. Shakespeare kept pace with anatomical and medical advances, and he included the latest scientific discoveries in his work, from blood circulation to treatments for syphilis. He certainly didn't shy away from portraying the reality of death on stage, from the brutal to the mundane, and the spectacular to the silly.

Elizabethan London provides the backdrop for Death by Shakespeare, as Kathryn Harkup turns her discerning scientific eye to the Bard and the varied and creative ways his characters die. Was death by snakebite as serene as Shakespeare makes out? Could lack of sleep have killed Lady Macbeth? Can you really murder someone by pouring poison in their ear? Kathryn investigates what actual events may have inspired Shakespeare, what the accepted scientific knowledge of the time was, and how Elizabethan audiences would have responded to these death scenes. Death by Shakespeare will tell you all this and more in a rollercoaster of Elizabethan carnage, poison, swordplay and bloodshed, with an occasional death by bear-mauling for good measure.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. März 2020
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781472958242
• Artikelnr.: 58624182

Autorenporträt

Kathryn Harkup is a former chemist turned author. She writes and gives regular public talks on the disgusting and dangerous side of science. Her first book was the international best-seller A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, which was shortlisted for a Mystery Readers International Macavity Award and a BMA Book Award. She has also written Making the Monster: The Science of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts, and her latest book is Superspy Science: Science, Death and Tech in the World of James Bond.

@RotwangsRobot

Inhaltsangabe

I shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as in part I understand them, are to blame.King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2Prologue Chapter 1: Our Humble AuthorChapter 2: All the World's a StageChapter 3: Will You Be Cured of Your Infirmity?Chapter 4: Off With His Head!Chapter 5: Murder, Murder!Chapter 6: The Dogs of WarChapter 7: A Plague O'both Your Houses!Chapter 8: Most Delicious PoisonChapter 9: To Be, or Not to BeChapter 10: Excessive Grief the Enemy to the LivingChapter 11: Exit Pursued by a BearEpilogueAppendixBibliographyAcknowledgementsIndex

Rezensionen

Harkup's enjoyable and informative survey presents this somatic Shakespeare for the Horrible Histories generation. Times Literary Supplement 20200417

Death By Shakespeare is a macabre but fascinating read, rich in historical context, scientific insight, and intriguing asides.