Catherine Belsey Libri

Considers the ways ghost stories appeal to our uneasy relationship with conventional good sense What do they want, the ghosts that, even in the age of science, still haunt our storytelling? Catherine Belsey's answer to the question traces Gothic writing and tales of the uncanny from the ancient past to the present - from Homer and the Icelandic sagas to Lincoln in the Bardo. Taking Shakespeare's Ghost in Hamletas a turning point in the history of the genre, she uncovers the old stories the play relies on, as well as its influence on later writing. This ghostly trail is vividly charted through accredited records of apparitions and fiction by such writers as Ann Radcliffe, Washington Irving, Emily Brontë, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, M. R. James and Susan Hill. In recent blockbusting movies, too, ghost stories bring us fragments of news from the unknown. Traces examples of ghost stories from Homer to the present day Describes the aspects of storytelling designed to involve readers Includes stories of attested apparitions, as well as fiction by a wide range of both canonical and popular authors

Professor Belsey's explains the views of recent theorists, including Jean- Francois Lyotard, Judith Butler and Slavoj Zizek, in order to take issue with their accounts of what it is to be human.

Everyone knows the story of the star-crossed lovers but close attention to the language of the play can deepen and darken the legend. As icons of passion, Romeo and Juliet reveal the recklessness, as well as the idealism, of desire in a violent world. Catherine Belsey shows how you can tease out the play's subtle meanings and goes on to discuss key adaptations, including the classic Baz Lurhmann film.

The Milton of the critics is either denounced as pompous or admired for his grand style. The Milton of the scholars is weighed down with classical learning and Protestant theology. For the student, in consequence, Milton is a figure certainly respected, even feared - but largely unread. This book represents a Milton that challenges rather than daunts the reader. This is the Milton whose writing is a product of one of the most turbulent eras of English history, the period of the Revolution, the Commonwealth and the Restoration. In Catherine Belsey's analysis, Milton's is, in consequence, a turbulent writing, fully engaged with questions of politics, gender and language. In all these spheres, Milton's poetry and prose constitute an unresolved confrontation with difference. Produced on the threshold of the modern world, the texts foreshadow issues which are fiercely contested again today. Power is seen to be dangerous and unstable, patriachy precarious, masculinity vulnerable and the language ultimately beyond the control of the impulse to master it.

Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Culture invests us with agency and choice, but also limits the possibilities. But the cultural script is not fixed, so we can intervene to increase the options. This introduction explains how, with illustrations from art and culture.

This book finds a way through often impenetrable recent theories, exploring key concepts of ideology, subjectivity and representation in the various forms put forward by different 'schools' of theorists.

Focusing on sixteenth and seventeenth-century drama, this analysis explores the evolving identities of men and women during the Renaissance. Catherine Belsey examines various texts to trace the emergence of modern subjectivity, emphasizing the liberal humanist ideal of self-determination. The work highlights how this concept of subjectivity was predominantly centered on men, with women positioned in relation to male identity. Through this lens, the book reveals the historical context that shaped notions of gender and individuality in early modern literature.

The next introduction in the IDEAS IN PROFILE series: a snappy but serious introduction to criticism