Mr Naseer Ahmed

Research project: Shakespeare's Treatment of Human Emotions

Abstract

I am a PhD student in the Department of Humanities. My research is focused on contextualising and historicising Shakespeare's treatment of human emotions in selected works. There is a huge range and complexity of emotions evident in Shakespeare's works, which sometimes overlap each other to the extent that it is almost impossible to demarcate them. Hence, the emotions—or passions, as they were known to the early modern society—that are the main focus of my study are melancholy, jealousy and repentance. Shakespeare's time was very rich intellectually, culturally, religiously and educationally and the chief contributors to all this richness were the Renaissance and the Reformation. Thousands of treatises, conduct books and didactic pamphlets were published on emotions during the lifespan of Shakespeare and the majority of this literature was religious in character. Moreover, works of European writers and classics were also translated prolifically and were abundantly available to the English, though Latin version of such works were still popular and the playwrights of the day, including Shakespeare, benefited from them. My research is mainly focused on how all these cultural, intellectual, educational, political and religious factors are linked to Shakespeare's treatment and portrayal of human emotions in Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and The Winter's Tale.