Narcissism and Suicide and in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries

This study focuses on two figures of excessive individualism-the narcissist who has eyes only for himself, and the suicide whose violent action expresses defiant ownership-in order to explore Renaissance attitudes to self-involvement. Shakespeare's representation of narcissists and self-murderers both acknowledges the allure of self-sufficiency and the danger of anti-social self-absorption. Through analysis of a number of Shakespearean texts - including Venus and Adonis, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello - this book illustrates how radical self-reflection is expressed on the Renaissance page and stage, and how the representation of these two seemingly extreme figures is indicative of early-modern attitudes to introspection.