Ambiguity as a rhetorical principle in Shakespeare - Much Adoabout Nothing (c. 1598) and Othello (c. 1604): case studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5902/2176148556900Keywords:
Shakespeare, Ambiguity, Rhetoric, SpainAbstract
The ambiguity ascribed to Shakespeare was a recent subject of academic scrutiny. This article investigates the history of modern political thought scholarship for that phenomenon. According to this proposition, polyphony would derive from the use of the rhetorical technique known as in utramque partem, an approach of two opposite sides of the same topic, in order to stage delicate political questions. Using a pair of plays written in the context of intense discussions about war and peace in London as case studies, I seek to explore how Shakespeare represented the Anglo-Spanish conflict through antagonistic perspectives.
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