Author: John Kerrigan

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 1996-04-18

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0191591726

From Homer to Nietzsche, St Paul to Sylvia Plath, numerous authors have been fascinated by the emotional intensity of revenge, and by the questions it raises about violence, sexuality, death, and justice. John Kerrigan's exceptionally learned and lively book explores the literature of vengeance from Greek tragedy to postmodernism, ranging through material in several languages, as well as through opera, painting, and film, while opening new perspectives on such familiar English works as Hamlet, Clarissa, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. - ;Revenge has long been central to European culture. From Homer to Nietzsche, St Paul to Sylvia Plath, numerous major authors have been fascinated by its emotional intensity and by the questions which it raises about violence, sexuality, death and the nature of justice. In this exceptionally learned and lively book, John Kerrigan explores the literature of vengeance from Greek tragedy to postmodernism, ranging through material in several languages, as well as through opera, painting, and film, while opening new perspectives on such familiar English works as amlet, larissa and he Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. By means of broad historical analysis, but also through subtle attention to the fabric of individual texts, Kerrigan shows how evolving attitudes to retribution have shaped and reconstituted tragedy in the West and elucidates the remarkable capacity of his ancient theme to generate innovative works of art. Although evenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddons a literary study, it makes fresh and ambitious use of ideas from anthropology, social theory and moral philosophy. As a result, it will be of interest to students in a variety of disciplines, as well as to the general reader. -