Shakespeare and the Apocalypse

Reviews / Votes

This lively and compelling book shows Shakespeare in an entirely new light. Subtly attentive to the language of the tragedies, Roger Christofides captures resemblances between early modern culture and our own, tracing in the dramatist's world and ours some of the most urgent hopes and anxieties. -- Catherine Belsey, Research Professor, Swansea University, UK 'A remarkably graceful exploration of difficult ideas, this refreshing and original study illuminates the connections between English church iconography, Shakespearian tragedy, and our own preoccupation with the end of the world. By showing how the notion of the Apocalypse shapes both language and genre, Mr. Christofides leads us though a subtle and intricate analysis to a genuinely new understanding of four of Shakespeare's greatest plays.' -- Richard Vela, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA 'Shakespeare and the Apocalypse is a breathtaking read. From its daring opening salvo-that the structure of language itself is apocalyptic-to its surprising ending, the book baffles expectation, constantly taking us to places we've never been in Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. Using stunning images of "the Doom" gleaned from pre-Reformation art and architecture, Christofides illuminates Shakespeare's darkest tragedies, re-reading them as models of the apocalyptic sensibility that artists, writers, and filmmakers have sought to emulate ever since. Shakespeare and the Apocalypse is rigorously researched and engagingly written; it is essential reading for anyone interested in Shakespeare, popular culture, religious studies, or art history.' -- Courtney Lehmann, University of the Pacific, USA Shakespeare and the Apocalypse will be most useful to readers interested in the intersection between post-structural linguistics and early modern studies...references like the 'The Three Living and the Three Dead' offer a tantalizing glimpse of early modern cultural history. -- Kathleen Bossert The Shakespeare Newsletter ... an interesting and entertaining read ... it opens up several interesting avenues of exploration into the nature of Shakespearean tragedy. English, theater, and pop-up culture scholars will all find something worthwhile in its pages. -- Michael A. Cramer, Borough of Manhattan Community College, USA Sixteenth Century Journal Shakespeare and the Apocalypse by R. M. Cristofides is as much, if not more, about language as it is about images of doom from pre-Reformation England, via Shakespeare, to instances in modern popular culture ... The book's many references to popular culture ... are supplementary in both senses. They are additional readings of doom which show how the language of the apocalypse still haunts audiences today ... Cristofides' contribution, therefore, is important in terms of its informative content and its methodological example. -- Johann Gregory The Year's Work in English Studies, vol. 93