Unlike tragic dramatists, who have usually inherited their characters' names from history or myth, comic writers are name-givers. They have always confronted a fundamental choice: whether to give "speaking" names, expressing the nature of the characters, or "accidental" ones, which allow for greater independence and for change. These different attitudes towards naming are bound up with the larger debate about the truthful or arbitrary nature of language itself: the debate formalized in Plato's dialogue "Cratylus", and ...
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Unlike tragic dramatists, who have usually inherited their characters' names from history or myth, comic writers are name-givers. They have always confronted a fundamental choice: whether to give "speaking" names, expressing the nature of the characters, or "accidental" ones, which allow for greater independence and for change. These different attitudes towards naming are bound up with the larger debate about the truthful or arbitrary nature of language itself: the debate formalized in Plato's dialogue "Cratylus", and continuing today. This book takes the "Cratylus" as its starting point. It examines the way individual dramatists and varieties of comedy are drawn either towards the position of Plato's Hermogenes, who believes that names are arbitrary impositions, or towards the essentialist view held by Cratylus himself. It claims that although the bias of comedy is inherently Cratylic, it is a bias perpetually being modified and corrected by the rival approach to naming. The first chapter is concerned with Aristophanes, and with the varying onomastic allegiances of Menander, Plautus and Terence. The second examines English mediaeval drama, partly in relation to the introduction and spread of surnames, while the third considers the contribution of Hermogenean and Cratylic attitudes to modes of comedy established during the early 16th century and their subsequent polarization in Shakespeare and Jonson. At the heart of the book lie two chapters on Shakespeare, naming and names. Chapter five looks at a group of Shakespeare plays - the Fenriad, "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello" - in which naming strategies associated with comedy are made to operate within alien contexts. The book ends with general chapters on namelessness in tragedy, comedy and folklore, and its consequences for social and personal identity. A brief epilogue traces the history of English comic naming from the Restoration to Beckett.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 550grams, ISBN: 0198117930.
