InPhenomenal Shakespeare, leading Shakespeare scholar Bruce R. Smith presents an original account for the ways in which Shakespeares poems and plays continue to resonate with audiences, readers and scholars because of their engagement with the whole body, not just the reading mind.An original examination of Shakespeares appeal written by leading Shakespeare scholar Bruce R. SmithContains insightful examinations of a single Shakespeare sonnet,Venus and Adonis, andKing Lear to model the possibilities of historical phenomenology as a better strategy for critical reading than approaches based on language alonePushes beyond traditional treatments of ShakespeareAn ideal handbook of contemporary approaches to Shakespeare and a celebration of Shakespeare's staying power on stage, on film, and on the page

Bruce R. Smith is Dean's Professor of English and Professor of Theatre at the University of Southern California. He has published widely on Shakespeare with recent works includingThe Key of Green: Passion and Perception in Renaissance Culture (2009),Shakespeare and Masculinity (2000), andThe Acoustic World of Early Modern England (1999). A former president of the Shakespeare Association of America, Smith has been a keynote speaker at meetings of Shakespeare and Renaissance organizations in Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Portugal, and the UK. He has also been featured in programs aired on BBC Radio 3, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Public Radio International, and TV 4 London.

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue: The Argument xi

1 As It Likes You 1

2 How Should One Read a Shakespeare Sonnet? 38

3 Carnal Knowledge 82

4 Touching Moments 132

Epilogue: What Shakespeare Proves 177

Works Cited 187

Picture Credits 197

Index 199