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Explores Shakespeare's use of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, translated by Thomas North. Considers internal conflict and "violent interaction with the dominant society" in Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus. Suggests that Julius Caesar has "direct bearing on the vexed question of the ageing Queen Elizabeth's succession"; positions Antony and Cleopatra as a warning against "emotional obsession"; and submits Coriolanus as an example of "the individual against the state."

Includes one essay on Shakespeare.

"Argue[s] that a tragic theology is possible despite these objections, but it will be based on the Shakespearean form of tragedy, in which a protagonist is in tension with society, rather than on the Greek tradition." English summary, online.

Argues that Shakespeare "engage[s] with" Christianity "only in some of the tragedies," and in a "wholly performative" manner "with a quality of dynamic imprecision that rather heightens than diminishes their impact." Suggests that tragedy expresses "via negativa, an acceptance of the unalterability of loss." English summary, online.

Includes two chapters on Shakespeare.

Investigates Shakespeare's influence on Heinrich von Kleist, an eighteenth-century German writer. Considers how Kleist and Shakespeare dramatize oaths, in terms of law, religion, and language, with specific attention to perjury in Richard III.

Revisits Oscar Wilde's interpretation of the fair youth in the procreation sonnets. Drawing on Eric Auerbach, looks for traces of the medieval Figura in Shakespeare's sonnets, noting the different connotations of figura across languages. Points to Shakespeare's theatrical and performative language in his sonnets.

Includes two essays on Shakespeare.

Positions Shakespeare's lark imagery in Sonnet 29 "in light of the tradition represented ... by Deguileville." Reads the speaker of the poem as "a Christian worshipper" and the addressee as Christ. English summary, 200.

Shows how Shakespeare used progymnasmata, classical rhetorical exercises, including commonplacing, ekphrasis, and impersonation. Considers oration, acting, "figures of thought," and hermeneutics in Shakespeare's plays in relation to ancient rhetoric.