French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Green: Critical Readings of Shakespeare
Other Literary Studies

The Enchantments of Seduction. Critical Readings of: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Antony and Cleopatra; The Tempest; The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare

Author(s): André Green

Publisher: Odile Jacob
Published on: 07/04/2005
ISBN: 2-7381-1573-X

Summary
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon's spells ensure that a potion extracted from a flower, when smeared on a sleeper's eyelids, makes them fall in love with the first person they see upon waking, leading to comical situations: Queen Titania falls in love with an ass. In Antony and Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt seduces Mark Antony after the death of Julius Caesar and exerts such an influence over him that his endeavors end in catastrophe and the lovers' suicide. In The Tempest, Prospero, a sorcerer and magician, takes revenge on his enemies before giving his daughter Miranda in marriage. In "The Phoenix and the Turtle", the mythical creature deploys the enchantments of the supernatural. In all these works, different kinds of seductive enchantments can be identified. Theater and poetry play no small part in this. A lover of Shakespeare, André Green here puts his interpretive talents at the service of the writer who understood just how essential illusion is to the human psyche.

Biography
André Green is a member of the Paris Psychoanalytical Society, of which he was president. He has notably published Psychic Causality, The Chains of Eros, and Clinical Thinking.

(Information provided by the publisher)

This collection brings psychoanalytical insight to bear on canonical dramatic and poetic texts, examining how theatrical illusion mirrors the complexities of the human psyche. André Green investigates the mechanisms of desire and fascination through close readings of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, and The Phoenix and the Turtle. The volume is well-suited for scholars and readers interested in the intersections of psychoanalysis, Renaissance drama, and the philosophy of art.

André Green was a prominent psychoanalyst and a member of the Paris Psychoanalytical Society, known for his theoretical contributions to contemporary psychoanalysis. His approach bridges literary criticism and psychological inquiry, highlighting the ways in which poetry and performance articulate profound emotional truths. This accessible yet rigorous study offers fresh perspectives on Shakespearean character dynamics and the enduring power of dramatic illusion.