Crowd and Rumour in Shakespeare

Kai Wiegandt is assistant professor of English Literature at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

'Through careful and persuasive readings, Wiegandt demonstrates the importance of attending to the collective and plural, rather than the individual and singular, in Shakespeare's plays. Theoretically sophisticated and insightful in its analysis, this study makes an important contribution to our understanding of Shakespearean multiplicity.' Ian Munro, University of California - Irvine, USA 'Jettisoning individual psychology and focusing instead on networks of shared allegiance, Kai Wiegandt explores Shakespeare’s interest in crowds and the forms of truth they incline towards.' Times Literary Supplement '... an excellent addition to Ashgate’s admirable Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama series and, in its unashamed concentration on the collective, a useful and timely intervention in the field.' Renaissance Quarterly 'Crowd and Rumour in Shakespeare ably argues that Shakespeare’s works are not merely drama[s] of individuality (p. 1), but also testaments to the playwright’s concern with man as an essentially collective being (p. 2).' Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 ’...Offers fresh insights...[Wiegandt’s] argument is especially fascinating and genuinely innovative where it touches upon the metatheatrical aspects of Shakespearean crowds.’ Shakespeare Jahrbuch

• Contents: Introduction; Part 1 Body: ’The greatest and most savage beast in the whole world’: the idea of the crowd in Shakespeare’s time; Theories of the crowd; Class conflict and crowd psychology: the Second Part of Henry VI; The metatheatricality of the crowd: Julius Caesar; From the ’body politic’ to the ’many-headed monster’: Coriolanus; Part 2 Voice: ’Falsehoods mingled with the truth’: early modern concepts of rumour; Rumour theory; The circulation of fear: Richard III; Rumour, fame and sound: the Second Part of Henry IV; Rumour and scepticism: Othello; Conclusion: Shakespeare's drama of collectivity; Appendices; Works cited; Index.