MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 02651cam a2200313 a 4500
001 2012942805
003 DLC
005 20140205114429.0
008 120622s2013 cau b 001 0 eng c
010 $a 2012942805
020 $a9781586176846 (pbk.)
020 $a1586176846 (pbk.)
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn841298650
040 $aJAI$beng$cJAI$dBTCTA$dBDX$dYDXCP$dBWX$dIXA$dOCLCO$dCDX$dHF9$dZCU$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $ae-uk-en
050 00 $aPR2831$b.P43 2013
100 1 $aPearce, Joseph,$d1961-
245 10 $aShakespeare on love :$bseeing the Catholic presence in Romeo and Juliet /$cJoseph Pearce.
260 $aSan Francisco, Calif. :$bIgnatius Press,$cc2013.
300 $a179 p. ;$c21 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 $aHaving given the evidence for William Shakespeare's Catholicism in two previous books, literary biographer Joseph Pearce turns his attention in this work to the Bard's most famous play, Romeo and Juliet. "Star-crossed" Romeo and Juliet are Shakespeare's most famous lovers and perhaps the most well-known lovers in literary history. Though the young pair has been held up as a romantic ideal, the play is a tragedy, ending in death. What then, asks Pearce, is Shakespeare saying about his protagonists? Are they the hapless victims of fate, or are they partly to blame for their deaths? Is their love the "real thing", or is it self-indulgent passion? And what about the adults in their lives? Did they give the young people the example and guidance that they needed? The Catholic understanding of sexual desire, and its need to be ruled by reason, is on display in Romeo and Juliet, argues Pearce. The play is not a paean to romance but a cautionary tale about the naivete and folly of youthful infatuation and the disastrous consequences of poor parenting. The well-known characters and their oft-quoted lines are rich in symbolic meaning that points us in the direction of the age-old wisdom of the Church. Although such a reading of Romeo and Juliet is countercultural in an age that glorifies the heedless and headless heart of young love, Pearce makes his case through a meticulous engagement with Shakespeare and his age and with the text of the play itself -- provided by publisher.
600 10 $aShakespeare, William,$d1564-1616.$tRomeo and Juliet.
650 0 $aLove$xReligious aspects$xChristianity.
600 10 $aShakespeare, William,$d1564-1616$xReligion.
610 20 $aCatholic Church$xIn literature.
650 0 $aChristianity and literature$zEngland$xHistory$y16th century.
650 0 $aChristianity and literature$zEngland$xHistory$y17th century.