Revenge Tragedy by John Kerrigan

Revenge Tragedy by John Kerrigan

Revenge has long been central to European culture. From Homer to Nietzsche, St Paul to Sylvia Plath, numerous major authors have been fascinated by its emotional intensity, and by the questions which it raises about violence, sexuality, death, and the nature of justice. In this exceptionally learned and lively book, John Kerrigan explores the literature of vengeance from Greek tragedy to postmodernism, ranging through material in several languages, as well as through opera, painting, and film, while opening new perspectives on such famailiar English works as Hamlet, Clarissa, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. By means of broad historical analysis, but also through subtle attention to the fabric of individual texts, Kerrigan shows how evolving attitudes to retribution have shaped and reconstituted tragedy in the West, and elucidates the remarkable capacity of his ancient theme to generate innovative works of art. Although Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon is a literary study, it makes fresh and ambitious use of ideas from anthropology, social theory, and moral philosophy. As a result it will be of interest to students in a variety of disciplines, as well as to the general reader.

Brilliant and subtly inclusive..In both its benign and malign aspects, which are not easy to disintangle as Kerrigan disentangles them in his incisive, unsardonic prose, revenge seems integral to all moral values... It is the connections Kerrigan uses his theme to make, and makes so convincingly, and the fact that he consistently reads afresh writers and works swamped by commentary that makes Revenge Tragedy such an extraordinary book. * Adam Philips, London Review of Books *
An astonishingly learned, versatile study, which sweeps from Orestes to Bernard Williams, Euripides to Andrea Dworkin, medieval romance to the modern media, television and film... This is a major work of literary scholarship, daunting in scope and subtle in perception. * Terry Eagleton, Times Literary Supplement *
Exemplary learning [and] exceptional scholarly curiosityIt includes brilliant pages on Greek tragedy and Shakespearean comedy, with an unfashionable tribute to Bergson, arising from the recognition that revenge can be funny. It is all rather dazzlinga book to disturb anyone's intellectual peace. * Frank Kermode, New York Review of Books *
Kerrigan's book ... homes in on specific moments in western representation, coming to those moments with tact and scholarly precision. Scholars interested in a wide range of topics will find much to consider in Kerrigan's book. * AUMLA *

John Kerrigan, Professor of English 2000, University of Cambridge

John Kerrigan was born and brought up in Liverpool. After Oxford, he went to Cambridge where he is Professor of English 2000 and a Fellow of St John's College. He has lectured all over the world, with visiting positions in Japan, India, New Zealand, and the USA. Among his publications are
widely-acclaimed books and essays about tragedy since antiquity, Shakespeare, seventeenth-century literature, and modern poetry.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780198184515
ISBN 10	0198184514
Title	Revenge Tragedy
Author	John Kerrigan
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	1998-04-23
Number of pages	432
Prizes	Winner of Winner of Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in 1998.
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.