Stephen Greenblatt sets out to explain his longtime fascination with the ghost of Hamlet's father, and his daring and ultimately gratifying journey takes him through surprising intellectual territory. It yields an extraordinary account of the rise and fall of Purgatory as both a belief and a lucrative institution--as well as a capacious new reading of the power of Hamlet. In the mid-sixteenth century, English authorities abruptly changed the relationship between the living and dead. Declaring that Purgatory was a false ...
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Stephen Greenblatt sets out to explain his longtime fascination with the ghost of Hamlet's father, and his daring and ultimately gratifying journey takes him through surprising intellectual territory. It yields an extraordinary account of the rise and fall of Purgatory as both a belief and a lucrative institution--as well as a capacious new reading of the power of Hamlet. In the mid-sixteenth century, English authorities abruptly changed the relationship between the living and dead. Declaring that Purgatory was a false "poem," they abolished the institutions and banned the practices that Christians relied on to ease the passage to Heaven for themselves and their dead loved ones. Greenblatt explores the fantastic adventure narratives, ghost stories, pilgrimages, and imagery by which a belief in a grisly "prison house of souls" had been shaped and reinforced in the Middle Ages. He probes the psychological benefits as well as the high costs of this belief and of its demolition. With the doctrine of Purgatory and the elaborate practices that grew up around it, the church had provided a powerful method of negotiating with the dead. The Protestant attack on Purgatory destroyed this method for most people in England, but it did not eradicate the longings and fears that Catholic doctrine had for centuries focused and exploited. In his strikingly original interpretation, Greenblatt argues that the human desires to commune with, assist, and be rid of the dead were transformed by Shakespeare--consummate conjurer that he was--into the substance of several of his plays, above all the weirdly powerful Hamlet. Thus, the space of Purgatory became the stage haunted by literature's most famous ghost. This book constitutes an extraordinary feat that could have been accomplished by only Stephen Greenblatt. It is at once a deeply satisfying reading of medieval religion, an innovative interpretation of the apparitions that trouble Shakespeare's tragic heroes, and an exploration of how a culture can be inhabited by its own spectral leftovers.
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Add this copy of Hamlet in Purgatory to cart. $1.49, good condition, Sold by Owls Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toledo, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Princeton University Press.
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Add this copy of Hamlet in Purgatory to cart. $1.49, fair condition, Sold by Open Books Ltd rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Princeton University Press.
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Add this copy of Hamlet in Purgatory to cart. $2.84, good condition, Sold by Discover Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toledo, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Princeton University Press.
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Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Add this copy of Hamlet in Purgatory (Princeton Classics) to cart. $5.00, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Princeton University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have some wear or writing/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Hamlet in Purgatory to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by Orphans Treasure Box rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Champaign, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Princeton University Press.
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Greenblatt is an author that digs far deeper into literature than many of us ever thought possible. Literature is not just what the author says, it is what historically, socially, culturally and religiously what was believed; what art and culture may have inspired and affected what was written. Greenblatt specifically takes the idea of Hamlet's father's ghost and discusses the belief system of Elizabethan England. The idea of purgatory - believed by the catholics, but discredited by Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. His analysis and discussions are far more interesting and complete than this review. Enjoy the book, whether you are interested in history, religion or Shakespeare.
