This is the first book-length analysis of Shakespeare s depiction of specula (mirrors) to reveal the literal and allegorical functions of mirrors in the playwright s art and thought. Adding a new dimension to the plays Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Henry the Fifth, Love s Labor s Lost, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and All s Well That Ends Well, Maurice A. Hunt also references mirrors in a wide range of external sources, from the Bible to demonic practices. Looking at the concept of speculation through its multiple meanings - cognitive, philosophical, hypothetical, and provisional - this original reading suggests Shakespeare as a craftsman so prescient and careful in his art that he was able to criticize the queen and a former patron with such impunity that he could still live as a gentleman.

Autorentext
MAURICE A. HUNT ****is a Professor of English at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, USA.

Inhalt
Speculative Understanding and Ignorance in Troilus and Cressida , Julius Caesar , and Macbeth Holding Up Drama as an 'Ideal' Mirror in Hamlet and The Life of King Henry the Fifth Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in John Lyly's Comedies Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in Love's Labor's Lost A Speculative Political Allegory in A Midsummer Night's Dream Mirroring the Earl of Southampton in All's Well That Ends Well