Poetic Will

by David Willbern

This book explores the expressions of Shakespeare's poetic will - his sexual desire, conscious and unconscious volition, and posthumous legacy - within the linguistic matrix that enfolds his characters and readers. Using a combination of psychoanalytic approaches, Willbern rescues Shakespeare from the limitations and distortions of dramatic performance by showing that his language, scenes, and characters are propelled by the genius of this will and need to be understood primarily as written narrative.