Sign-In
Cart
Shakespeare: The Journey into the Sacred
Paperback
Publisher Price: $13.99
ISBN13: 9781764230520
Publisher: Simon Sheridan
Published: Apr 19 2026
Pages: 182
Weight: 0.55
Height: 0.39 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
- Outlines a method of story interpretation inspired by the work Joseph Campbell which begins with the premise that every story is a transformation of the hero's identity
- Applies this method to seven of Shakespeare's greatest plays, unlocking the true meaning of Hamlet, King Lear, and others
- Uses Jung's concept of the archetypes to show that Shakespeare's oeuvre is an exploration of the most common transformations in life
- Draws out the difference between Greek and Shakespearean tragedy to show how Shakespeare represents a major turning point in Western cultural history that still resonates in our time
Almost everybody is agreed that the works of Shakespeare are not just brilliant artistic creations but also communicate something fundamental about the human condition. Nevertheless, four hundred years after his death, there is still a surprising amount of uncertainty about how to interpret them. Indeed, in the case of arguably Shakespeare's two greatest plays, King Lear and Hamlet, the foremost minds have failed to give an adequate account, with some claiming the works are the result of artistic liberty (Coleridge, Bradley, Bloom) and some of artistic failure (Johnson, Voltaire, T.S. Eliot).
In this book, author Simon Sheridan sets out to enhance our understanding by presenting a new method of interpretation that draws on the work of Joseph Campbell (the hero's journey) and Carl Jung (the archetypes). Beginning with the simple proposition that every story is about the transformation of the hero, Sheridan analyses seven of Shakespeare's greatest plays using a rigorous and repeatable framework that both unlocks the meaning of individual works such as Hamlet and King Lear and allows a comparative overview of Shakespeare's oeuvre as a whole.
Having established a base of interpretation, Sheridan is then able to elucidate the higher-level themes in Shakespeare's art. The Bard repeatedly poked fun at the philosophers of his day and their focus on the static forms of existence. By contrast, his works foreground the process of transformation and change. Shakespeare confronts his heroes with identity crises of the highest magnitude, but he also endows them with an incredible clarity of consciousness. The result is that his works are an exploration of those aspects of existence that philosophy and religion had deliberately ignored. We call it the journey into the sacred.
Also from
Sheridan, Simon
The Universal State of America: An Archetypal Calculus of Western Civilisation
Sheridan, Simon
Paperback
Also in
Literary Criticism
Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
Sachs, Aaron
Hardcover
Queer Faith: Reading Promiscuity and Race in the Secular Love Tradition
Sanchez, Melissa E.
Paperback
Ancient Rome at the Cinema: Story and Spectacle in Hollywood and Rome
Theodorakopoulos, Elena
Paperback
How to Be a Cat: (Cat Books for Kids, Cat Gifts for Kids, Cat Picture Book)
Swerling, Lisa
Lazar, Ralph
Hardcover
Hidden Hemingway: Inside the Ernest Hemingway Archives of Oak Park
Elder
Vetch, Aaron
Cirino, Mark
Hardcover
Dante's Vita Nuova, New Edition: A Translation and an Essay
Pitavy, Francois
Alighieri, Dante
Paperback
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines (Large Print Edition)
Foster, Thomas C.
Paperback
Much ADO about Nothing: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Twelfth Night: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Penelope's Bones: A New History of Homer's World Through the Women Written Out of It
Hauser, Emily
Paperback
Romeo and Juliet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
Saunders, George
Paperback
Mythology (75th Anniversary Illustrated Edition): Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Hamilton, Edith
Hardcover
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise
Rundell, Katherine
Hardcover
Mean Dads for a Better America: The Generous Rewards of an Old-Fashioned Childhood
Shillue, Tom
Paperback
The Language of the Night: Essays on Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Paperback
But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition: 40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films
Lopez, Kristen
Hardcover
Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
Romney, Rebecca
Paperback
Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers of the Fairy Tale and the Stories That They Spun
Harrington, Jane
Hardcover
Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear: A. A. Milne and the Creation of Winnie-The-Pooh
Brandreth, Gyles
Hardcover
A Midsummer Night's Dream: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Julius Caesar: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Shakespeare, William
Sparknotes
Paperback
The Odyssey: An Illustrated Guide: A Character-By-Character Guide to the Story of Odysseus
Metzger, Doug
Hardcover
The Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women: Serving Tea with a Side of Scorn
Reed, Emily
Hardcover
The Dream Factory: London's First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
Swift, Daniel
Hardcover
The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature, Revised and Expanded
Fadiman, Clifton
Major, John S.
Paperback
The Greek Tragedies: Seventeen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Paperback
Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe
Ogden, Emily
Hardcover
Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Palmer, Ada
Walton, Jo
Hardcover
A Treacherous Secret Agent: How Literature Spoke Truth to Power During the Red Scare
Garber, Marjorie
Hardcover
Taylor Swift by the Book: The Literature Behind the Lyrics, from Fairy Tales to Tortured Poets
Tatreau, Tiffany
Feder, Rachel
Hardcover