Edinburgh University Press The Shakespearean Inside: A Study of the Complete Soliloquies and Solo Asides

The Shakespearean Inside is a study of all soliloquies and solo asides (dubbed "insides" for short) in Shakespeare's complete plays. The first step in the research process was the creation of the Shakespearean Inside Database (SID) where these speeches were annotated according to variables of genuine literary interest (such as act, dramatic subgenre, probable time of composition, dramatic speech acts, selected figures of speech, and character attributes such as gender and class). Such comprehensive and detailed data makes it possible to generalize dependably about Shakespeare's authorial habits, and, by extension, to identify situations where the author departs in interesting ways from his habitual practices. The monograph uses these broad patterns and significant exceptions as a backdrop for fresh interpretations of various Shakespeare plays (from early works such as The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona to mature tragedies like Hamlet and late plays like The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen). From the Back Cover 'This is a groundbreaking book in understanding Shakespeare's repeated use of various soliloquies and asides that may or may not rely on audience response or cooperation. Marcus Nordlund lets us see well-known plays and characters in a new light. Who has paused to realise that Bertram in All's Well has no interiority or that Hamlet only makes self-addresses? This new application of computerised data continually tells us things limited human awareness does not observe.' Arthur F. Kinney, University of Massachusetts Amherst The first comprehensive and fully systematic study of all soliloquies and solo asides in Shakespeare's plays The Shakespearean Inside is a study of all soliloquies and solo asides (dubbed 'insides' for short) in Shakespeare's complete plays. The first step in the research process was the creation of the Shakespearean Inside Database (SID), where these speeches were annotated according to variables of genuine literary interest such as act, dramatic subgenre, probable time of composition, dramatic speech acts, selected figures of speech and character attributes such as gender and class. Such comprehensive and detailed data makes it possible to generalise dependably about Shakespeare's authorial habits and, by extension, to identify situations where the author departs in interesting ways from his habitual practices. The monograph uses these broad patterns and significant exceptions as a backdrop for fresh interpretations of various Shakespeare plays, from early works such as The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona to mature tragedies like Hamlet and late plays like The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Cover image: 'Hamlet', performed at Taganka Theater, 1971 (c) akg-images / Sputnik Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1897-3 Barcode About the Author Marcus Nordlund is a Reader in English Literature at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.