內容簡介

《大轉向》作者最新作品！

「一開始葛林布萊說明劇作家如何用劇本來譴責獨裁者的權力濫用，慢慢地讀者可以看到葛林布萊也在進行著和劇作家一樣的任務。」─約翰‧李斯高，美國演員

知名的莎士比亞研究學者、新歷史主義學派的先鋒史蒂芬，葛林布萊，2012年以《大轉向》風靡全世界，讓讀者們羨慕一陣讀歷史故事的風潮中，葛林布萊也以《大轉向》獲得了美國國家圖書獎的殊榮。

本書葛林布萊以最拿手的莎翁劇本，說出當時年老的英國女皇伊莉莎白一世執著大權，聰明、有才華的劇作家莎士比亞，藉由筆下的世界對獨裁者進行抗議的心理根基。

莎士比亞的《馬克白》、《李爾王》、《理查三世》跨越時間限制，直到今日依舊受到讀者們喜愛，葛林布萊研究莎翁的故事，敘述莎翁思考著如何停止身邊這些作威作福的人。

不僅是莎翁作品的愛好者，研究、喜好歷史、政治的讀者都將在這本書中獲得新知。

World-renowned Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt explores the playwright’s insight into bad (and often mad) rulers.

As an aging, tenacious Elizabeth I clung to power, a talented playwright probed the social causes, the psychological roots, and the twisted consequences of tyranny. In exploring the psyche (and psychoses) of the likes of Richard III, Macbeth, Lear, Coriolanus, and the societies they rule over, Stephen Greenblatt illuminates the ways in which William Shakespeare delved into the lust for absolute power and the catastrophic consequences of its execution.

Cherished institutions seem fragile, political classes are in disarray, economic misery fuels populist anger, people knowingly accept being lied to, partisan rancor dominates, spectacular indecency rules―these aspects of a society in crisis fascinated Shakespeare and shaped some of his most memorable plays. With uncanny insight, he shone a spotlight on the infantile psychology and unquenchable narcissistic appetites of demagogues―and the cynicism and opportunism of the various enablers and hangers-on who surround them―and imagined how they might be stopped. As Greenblatt shows, Shakespeare’s work, in this as in so many other ways, remains vitally relevant today.