A Fury in the Words: Love and Embarrassment in Shakespeare's Venice

by Harry Berger Jr.

Book Overview

Shakespeare's two Venetian plays are dominated by the discourse of embarrassment. The Merchant of Venice is a comedy of embarrassment, and Othello is a tragedy of embarrassment. This nomenclature is admittedly anachronistic, because the term "embarrassment" didn't enter the language until the late seventeenth century.

To embarrass is to make someone feel awkward or uncomfortable, humiliated or ashamed. Such feelings may respond to specific...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823241947
• ISBN13: 9780823241941
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"