French Literature Reviews - 2026

C. Armion, Shakespeare: The Language of Wounds
Theatre and Performance

Clifford Armion, Shakespeare: The Language of Wounds

Montpellier: L'Entretemps

July 2013, 272 pages

• ISBN: 978-2-35539-155-2
• 26 euros

Publisher's overview

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the author's research field: the symbolism of wounds in Shakespeare's work.
Drawing on an in-depth study of medicine, the Church, and the arts in Elizabethan England, this work aims to shed light for the modern reader and spectator on the symbolism of wounds in the playwright's oeuvre. The opening of the flesh is examined here as a signifying motif, a linguistic sign whose meaning corresponds to a defined set of rules, conventions, and interpretations. Depending on their location and shape, wounds can thus signify military glory or cowardice, the purifying rite of sacrifice, or the horror of crime. Beyond this complex semantics, the wound and the bloodshed accompanying it also serve as a way for the playwright to draw his audience into a participatory theatrical experience of danger. Finally, the study addresses the immediacy of the wounding motif and its resonance within the unconscious mind, transcending the boundaries of any given culture or society.

Clifford Armion's study examines the symbolism of wounds in Shakespeare's work. The book draws on an in-depth study of medicine, the Church, and the arts in Elizabethan England to shed light on the symbolism of wounds in the playwright's oeuvre. The opening of the flesh is examined as a signifying motif, a linguistic sign whose meaning corresponds to a defined set of rules, conventions, and interpretations. Depending on their location and shape, wounds can signify military glory or cowardice, the purifying rite of sacrifice, or the horror of crime.

The wound and the bloodshed accompanying it also serve as a way for the playwright to draw his audience into a participatory theatrical experience of danger. The study addresses the immediacy of ভূপ wounding motif and its resonance within the unconscious mind, transcending the boundaries of any given culture or society. Readers interested in early modern drama, cultural history, and the history of medicine may find this volume relevant to discussions of Shakespearean performance and Elizabethan theatrical motifs.