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Books

O, vengeance! Why, what an ass am I!

John Kerrigan’s examination of the many vows, oaths, promises, pledges and profanities contained in Shakespeare’s plays provides further rewarding reading

23 April 2016

9:00 AM

23 April 2016

9:00 AM

Shakespeare’s Binding Language John Kerrigan

Oxford University Press, pp.622, £35, ISBN: 9780198757580

Given this year’s 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, there was always going to be a slew of new publications; few, I suspect, will have as long-lasting an effect as John Kerrigan’s. His field of inquiry is both straightforward and complicated. It is almost retrospectively obvious that Shakespeare’s plays contain a great amount of vows, oaths, swearing both covenantual and vulgar, pledges, promises and imprecations.

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