Caliban - Hartley, David

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Résumé :
Having acquired a Shakespeare folio for a few shillings, anthropologist Daniel Wilson (1816-92) found in The Tempest a source of scientific intrigue. Writing more than two hundred years before Darwin propounded his theory of evolution, in his final play Shakespeare had created a missing link caught between the animal and the human. In this monograph, first published in 1873, Wilson uses the strange and unfortunate character of Caliban as a means through which to explore the principles of evolution. He traces many of the play's plot devices back to real events that perhaps inspired them - from storms in Bermuda to records of semi-human creatures around the world - and brings literary commentary into science as he links the relationships set out in the play to anthropological principles. This interdisciplinary approach makes the book both an entertaining exegesis of the play and a uniquely accessible explanation of contemporary scientific theories....

Biographie:
David Hartley writes strange stories about strange things for strange people. His work has appeared in many a prestigious literary magazine including Ambit, Black Static, The Shadow Booth and BFS: Horizons. In 2020 he was awarded a PhD in Creative Writing from The University of Manchester where he studied the poetics of neurodiversity. He is currently working on a novel about autism and ghosts. He tweets at @DHartleyWriter and lives in Manchester with one human, two rabbits and thirteen guinea pigs.

Sommaire:
1. In the beginning; 2. The Caliban of evolution; 3. Caliban's island; 4. The Tempest; 5. The monster Caliban; 6. Caliban, the metaphysician; 7. Caliban, the theologian; 8. The supernatural; 9. Ghosts and witches; 10. Fairy folk-lore; 11. The commentators; 12. The folios; 13. Notes on The Tempest; 14. A Midsummer Night's Dream.