Category Archives: Stephen Greenblatt

Greenblatt on Shakespeare and Absolutism

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

What is striking is that his work, alert to every human fantasy and longing, is allergic to the absolutist strain so prevalent in his world, from the metaphysical to the mundane. His kings repeatedly discover the constraints within which they … Continue reading →

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When Greenblatt met Clinton

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

Good story in Stephen Greenblatt, Shakespeare’s Freedom (pp. 74-75). Greenblatt says how he was invited to the the White House for a poetry evening, and President Clinton gave a speech which mentioned Macbeth. This was, he remarked wryly, not the most … Continue reading →

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More Coriolanus reviews

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

Joe Glenton in Counterfire Monika Bartyzel in The Atlantic Dana Stevens in Slate Richard Corliss in Time Stephen Greenblatt in New York Review of Books (requires subscription) and mine in Berfrois

Posted in Stephen Greenblatt, William Shakespeare | 2 Comments

Greenblatt, Shakespeare’s Freedom

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

A sample of Stephen Greenblatt’s Shakespeare’s Freedom is freely available at Berfrois. Berfrois will also be publishing my short piece on the new Ralph Fiennes film Coriolanus sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Posted in Stephen Greenblatt, William Shakespeare | 1 Comment

Novels read in 2011 part 2

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

Given the number of these that are not really novels, this list should probably be retitled ‘books I read that are not for work reasons…’ Not as many as the first half of the year, but that’s probably a product … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cycling, Martin Heidegger, Stephen Greenblatt, Umberto Eco, William Shakespeare | 3 Comments

Greenblatt on Shakespeare’s London

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

With its crush of small factories, dockyards, and warehouses; its huge food markets, breweries, print shops, hospitals, orphanages, law schools, and guildhalls; its cloth makers, glassmakers, basket makers, brick makers, shipwrights, carpenters, tinsmiths, armorers, haberdashers, furriers, dyers, goldsmiths, fishmongers, booksellers, … Continue reading →

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Critchley on Shakespeare

Posted on October 24, 2011 by

Simon Critchley is leading a summer school on Shakespeare and Philosophy in Tilburg next year. It’s for graduate students and you can find details here (via Continental Philosophy bulletin board). Critchley’s own lectures will focus on Hamlet – but discussions look … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Simon Critchley, Stephen Greenblatt, William Shakespeare | 2 Comments

The Foucault Effect 1991-2011 – Discussant Comments

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

Even though there was an audio recording, I decided to type up my handwritten comments from which I improvised my response to Daniel Defert; Colin Gordon; Peter Fitzpatrick and Maria Carolina Olarte. There is some material here that was cut due to the time – three long papers and already after 7pm when I spoke, so this is record of both what I said and would have said. This is very much a pièce d’occasion, rather than the basis for anything more, though some of the themes relate to previous concerns, or will become part of future work. Continue reading →

Posted in J.G.A. Pocock, Michel Foucault, Quentin Skinnner, Reinhart Koselleck, Stephen Greenblatt | 3 Comments