
Caliban
The Missing Link
Daniel Wilson(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 21. August 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
298 pages
978-1-108-06367-8 (ISBN)
Description
Having acquired a Shakespeare folio for a few shillings, anthropologist Daniel Wilson (1816-92) found in The Tempest a source of scientific intrigue. Writing more than two hundred years before Darwin propounded his theory of evolution, in his final play Shakespeare had created a missing link caught between the animal and the human. In this monograph, first published in 1873, Wilson uses the strange and unfortunate character of Caliban as a means through which to explore the principles of evolution. He traces many of the play's plot devices back to real events that perhaps inspired them - from storms in Bermuda to records of semi-human creatures around the world - and brings literary commentary into science as he links the relationships set out in the play to anthropological principles. This interdisciplinary approach makes the book both an entertaining exegesis of the play and a uniquely accessible explanation of contemporary scientific theories.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
423 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-06367-8 (9781108063678)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Complete work / Part of the work

Book
10/2013
Cambridge University Press
€66.70
Shipment within 15-20 days

Book
10/2013
Cambridge University Press
€70.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
David Hartley is a writer of weird short stories designed to sit in the space between your brain and your skull. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from The University of Manchester where he researched narratives of neurodiversity and wrote a novel about autism and ghosts.He is the author of four books: Threshold (Gumbo Press), Spiderseed (Sleepy House Press), Incorcisms (Arachne Press), and Pigskin, a standalone single-story chapbook which was published as part of Fly on the Wall's political Shorts Season. He lives in Manchester with one human, two rabbits, and an endlessly shifting number of guinea pigs. #AdoptDontShop Twitter: @DHartleyWriterInstagram: DHartleyWriterWebsite: davidhartleywriter.com
Content
1. In the beginning; 2. The Caliban of evolution; 3. Caliban's island; 4. The Tempest; 5. The monster Caliban; 6. Caliban, the metaphysician; 7. Caliban, the theologian; 8. The supernatural; 9. Ghosts and witches; 10. Fairy folk-lore; 11. The commentators; 12. The folios; 13. Notes on The Tempest; 14. A Midsummer Night's Dream.