For about three thousand years comedy has applied a welcome humanist perspective to the world's religious beliefs and practices. From the ancient Greek comedies of Aristophanes, the famous poem by Lucretius and dialogues of Cicero to early modern and Enlightenment essays and philosophical texts, tog[...]
Focusing on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" as foremost a study of grief, Alexander Welsh offers a powerful analysis of its protagonist as the archetype of the modern hero. For over two centuries, writers and critics have viewed "Hamlet's" persona as a fascinating blend of self-consciousness, guilt, and wit.[...]