Thinking Through Shakespeare

Name: Thinking Through Shakespeare
Price: 62.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9780691154107

David Womersley

$62.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Princeton University Press
01 July 2026

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literature: history & criticism; Literary studies: plays & playwrights; Shakespeare studies & criticism; History of ideas

In the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson famously argued that Shakespeare is enduringly popular because he 'is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life'. Johnson's view largely prevailed until the late twentieth century, when it was challenged by a growing scepticism about the existence of a general human nature. In Thinking Through Shakespeare, eminent literary critic David Womersley pushes back against this change by exploring how Shakespeare's plays think through

and invite us to think through

deep human questions of lasting importance.

Thinking Through Shakespeare explores four perennial human problems: personal identity, the distinction between civilisation and barbarism, the relation between political power and religious authority and the tension between means and ends. It examines the history of these problems, from antiquity to today, and traces how Shakespeare engages with them in the great tragedies

Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear

but also in his other plays. Without arguing that human nature is universal or unchanging, or that Shakespeare has some special access to timeless wisdom, the book makes the case that his drama is powerful because it serves as a forensic tool, probing rival perspectives on questions that have preoccupied many people in many societies over many centuries.

By revealing in new ways how Shakespeare's plays are animated and driven by central human problems, and why he should again be viewed as the great poet of human nature, Thinking Through Shakespeare opens up a richer understanding and appreciation of his work.

By: David Womersley
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 839g
ISBN: 9780691154107
ISBN 10: 0691154104
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 01 July 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

David Womersley is the Thomas Warton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. His books include Divinity and State, Gibbon and the ""Watchmen of the Holy City"" and The Transformation of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He is also the editor of many books, including the Penguin Classics editions of Gibbons's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson and David Hume's complete essays. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Historical Society.

Reviews for Thinking Through Shakespeare

""A measured, historically attentive argument for why Shakespeare’s work endures—as a searching inquiry into problems that remain unsettled."" * Indulge Magazine * ""An impressive examination of the central human questions Shakespeare explored in his plays. . . . Womersley’s elegant prose and thoroughly detailed critical analyses lead to thought-provoking interpretations. It’s a smart testament to the staying power of Shakespeare."" * Publishers Weekly * ""In his rich and thorough exploration of not only Shakespeare’s thoughts but also the course of Western thinking, David Womersley demonstrates that ideas do matter, and that Shakespeare is bigger than the harsh but ultimately timid emotions of our age.""---Jesse Russell, University Bookman