In Sheep's Clothing: The Arcane, Profane and Subversive in Shakespeare - Paperback

by Sidney Wade Stout (Author)

This book examines some of the readings that were available to Shakespeare. It exposes the reader to works not normally associated with this playwright and suggests ways on how philosophical ideas of the day may have influenced his writings. The works profiled include such renaissance philosophers as Ficino, Pico della Mirandola and Giordano Bruno. Shakespeare's incorporation of their ideas into his plays transforms the plays into much more subversive material and leads to profoundly different ways of interpreting his work. Anyone interested in finding new approaches to and new interpretations of Shakespeare's classic works will find intelligent entertainment in this collection of essays.

Author Biography

Sidney Wade Stout has a MSc. in Biochemistry and a BSc. (Hons.) in Chemistry. He has a long-held interest in Alchemy and Renaissance philosophy. It was in reading Shakespeare's plays that he noticed patterns in the characters; that they embodied the cutting-edge philosophical ideas of the day. Knowing the danger of writing openly about these ideas, Stout believes that Shakespeare encoded them in his works, making his plays mimic our modern-day science fiction. Sidney Wade Stout reveals the science within the plays and exposes their heretical content.