Posthumanist Shakespeares

Posthumanist Shakespearesis a critical investigation of the relationship between early modern culture and contemporary political and technological changes concerning the idea of the 'human.' The volume covers the tragediesKing LearandHamletin particular, but also provides posthumanist readings ofThe Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, The Winter's Tale, Timon of AthensandPericles. The value of the collection lies in extending a posthumanist paradigm to interpretations of Shakespeare, and in demonstrating how posthumanism can be in turn read back by Shakespeare's work. What emerges fromPosthumanist Shakespearesis that the encounter between posthumanism and Shakespeare studies, far from being unlikely, is productive for both fields and can lead to a critical rethinking of both, recasting questions concerning time, life, death, science, technology, and the nature of the human.