Re-Examination of Tragedy and Madness in Eight Selected Plays from the Greeks to the 20th Century

“The uniqueness of the present book is Reid’s articulation and foregrounding of the link between madness and tragedy. The result is a re-envisioning of the genre beyond particular and restrictive historical definitions of tragedy, identifying tragedy instead as the portrayal of the disintegration of an individual’s sense of reality resulting from a struggle with irreconcilable ontological contradictions exacerbated by the ‘here and now’ uncertainties of change, rebellion and crisis. . . . The breadth and fluidity of the choice of texts is key to the book’s contribution to dramatic criticism. . . . the bok vigorously calls for reconsideration of the genre in modern criticism; by forcing open the limits of tragedy and demanding complementary alternatives, the book ensures response and its real contribution to contemporary dramatic criticism.” – Glen Nichols

Table of contents:
· Preface; Foreword
· Tragedy and Madness
· The Signs of Madness
· The Meaning of Madness
· Reading the Greeks: The Libation Bearers; Antigone; The Bacchae
· Reading Shakespeare: The Negation of Being and Becoming in Othello and Macbeth
· Reading Modern Tragedy: Hedda Gabler, A Streetcar Named Desire; Death of a Salesman
· Conclusion: Reading Tragedy in the Negative
· Notes, Bibliography; Index

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