Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-15-2022
Abstract
"In recent years, scholars have increasingly put the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1623) in dialogue with the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995)... The majority of these Shakespearean references are to Hamlet and Macbeth, but contemporary critics working in the vein of Levinas have tended to favor King Lear. No Shakespearean play has been subjected to Levinasian analysis more fully or more frequently.5 This critical proclivity is not unwarranted, for Shakespeare's tragic play and Levinas's ethical writings tell the same basic story: that of the egoist who heedlessly pursues his own interests until he is until he is caught short and called into question by traumatizing encounters with others."
Recommended Citation
Lehnhof, Kent R. "Sweet Fooling: Ethical Humor in King Lear and Levinas." Shakespeare Quarterly, Feb. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/sq/quac001
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
Folger Shakespeare Library
Included in
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Theatre History Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Shakespeare Quarterly following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version
Lehnhof, Kent R. "Sweet Fooling: Ethical Humor in King Lear and Levinas." Shakespeare Quarterly, Feb. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/sq/quac001
is available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/sq/quac001