The Stranger In Shakespeare: Studies in the Archetypal Underworld of the Plays

by Leslie A. Fiedler

In this provocative book, originally published in 1972, Leslie Fiedler turns his critical eye on what he calls the "borderline figure" in Shakespeare's plays and poems. Neither hero nor villain, this figure defines the limits of the human—it is the shadow, the other, the alien

Genres: Shakespeare, Nonfiction

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Leslie Aaron Fiedler was an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work also involves application of psychological theories to American literature. He was in practical terms one of the early postmodernist critics working across literature in general, from around 1970. His most cited work is Love and Death in the American Novel (1960).

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has some interesting things to say with regards to the sonnets. However, I disagree with more than I agree with.

[Sigo Paolini · Rating 1 out of 5]

A hard book to read. Its very disorganized and poorly written. Once you overcome that, and only with struggle did I, it had a real 1970 sociio-sexist bent that I did not find much suport in his chosen texts. Of course anyone can bend anything out of shape, but it is always up to the reader to question whether that logically fits -- in this book, I found he missed the bigger picture, to prove his small point.

[Mora]

things this man is obsessed with: witches, father-daughter incest, being racist about othello. he had a handful of lines that made me think, that's an interesting point that's totally not elaborated on. most of the time the things he said made me think, what the fuck (derogatory). i Cannot recommend this.

[Isabelita · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3☆