Almost the Copy of My Child That'S Dead”

Shakespeare and the Loss of Hamnet

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13630277
AutoresKeverne Smith (University Centre, West Anglia, King's Lynn, UK, autor correspondente)
Ano2011
Volume64
Fascículo1
Páginas29-40
Data de publicação2011-10-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/om.64.1.c
PMID22372367
OpenAlexW2323738500
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas16

This article emphasizes the importance of studies which look at changes and similarities in mourning over time. It argues that relevant evidence can come from creative fiction as well as from other sources, provided that this is analyzed rigorously in terms of structures and patterns. As an illustration of this approach, it examines the evidence in recurring features of Shakespeare's plays that his writing was deeply and lastingly affected by the death of his only son Hamnet, a twin, at the age of 11, and identifies five motifs which support this interpretation: the resurrected child or sibling; androgynous and twin-like figures; a growing emphasis on father-daughter relationships; paternal guilt; family division and reunion. The article suggests that this approach could be applied to other instances where a body of creative writing shows traces of overt or buried grief

Art · Daughter · Developmental psychology · Genealogy · Grief · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Sibling · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology