Nabokov's Shakespeare is a comprehensive study of an important and interesting literary relationship. It explores the many and deep ways in which the works of Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language, penetrate the novels of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the finest English prose stylists of the twentieth century.
As a Russian youth, Nabokov read all of Shakespeare, in English. He claimed a shared birthday with the Bard, and some of his most highly regarded novels (Lolita, Pale Fire and Ada) are infused with Shakespeare and Shakespeareanisms. Nabokov uses Shakespeare and Shakespeare's works in a surprisingly wide variety of ways, from the most casual references to deep thematic links.
Schuman provides a taxonomy of Nabokov's Shakespeareanisms; a quantitative analysis of Shakespeare in Nabokov; an examination of Nabokov's Russian works, his early English novels, the non-novelistic writings (poetry, criticism, stories), Nabokov's major works, and his final novels; and a discussion of the nature of literary relationships and influence.
With a Foreword by Brian Boyd.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword by Brian Boyd
Introduction - Shakespeare, Nabokov, and Me
I."The Sun's a Thief:" Nabokov's Shakespeare
Introduction
Nabokov, English and English Literature
Theme
A Taxonomy of Nabokov's Shakespeareanisms
Preview
II. The Russian Works
The Tragedy of Mr. Morn
"Shakespeare"
Translations
Early Prose
The Wood Sprite
Glory, The Gift, Invitation to a Beheading
Laughter in the Dark
Despair
The English Novels
III."Which is Sebastian?": What's in a (Shakespearean and Nabokovian) Name?
IV. No Left Turn, or Something Rotten the State: Bend Sinister and Hamlet
V. Hurricane Lolita: The Nabokovian Tempest
VI. Tempest Point on the Bohemian Sea: PNIN
VII. The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet: Pale Fire and "Timon of Athens"
VIII."O What a Noble Mind:": Ada and Hamlet
IX. The Last Novels
Transparent Things
Look at the Harlequins!
X. A Miscellany of Other English Works
That in Aleppo Once
Eugene Onegin
Speak, Memory
Reviews and Notes
XI. Concluding Thoughts
Appendix 1 - A Quantitative Approach
Works Consulted
Notes
Index
