Royale Absence

The article is a chip off a projected study of Poe’s rewritings of Shakespearian tragedy. The moving force at the centre of “The Purloined Letter” is the spectral presence of the King, but a close reading of “The Purloined Letter” and “William Wilson” as rewritings of Hamlet reveals how much the pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Henri Justin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" 2018-12-01
Series:Sillages Critiques
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
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spelling doaj-91089ac6e43640f4bf3b264d5884c2012020-11-25T00:32:57ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022018-12-0125Royale AbsenceHenri JustinThe article is a chip off a projected study of Poe’s rewritings of Shakespearian tragedy. The moving force at the centre of “The Purloined Letter” is the spectral presence of the King, but a close reading of “The Purloined Letter” and “William Wilson” as rewritings of Hamlet reveals how much the play by Shakespeare partakes of the structure of the doppelgänger tale. As the play develops, the royal spectre loses force, till it appears obvious that only an empty mirror separates Hamlet from Claudius. Finally, the last page of “The Purloined Letter” goes as far as to suggest that the mirror tucked away within literary texts is the sovereign source of the poetry in them – a royal absence.http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Henri Justin
spellingShingle Henri Justin
Royale Absence
Sillages Critiques
author_facet Henri Justin
author_sort Henri Justin
title Royale Absence
title_short Royale Absence
title_full Royale Absence
title_fullStr Royale Absence
title_full_unstemmed Royale Absence
title_sort royale absence
publisher Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
series Sillages Critiques
issn 1272-3819
1969-6302
publishDate 2018-12-01
description The article is a chip off a projected study of Poe’s rewritings of Shakespearian tragedy. The moving force at the centre of “The Purloined Letter” is the spectral presence of the King, but a close reading of “The Purloined Letter” and “William Wilson” as rewritings of Hamlet reveals how much the play by Shakespeare partakes of the structure of the doppelgänger tale. As the play develops, the royal spectre loses force, till it appears obvious that only an empty mirror separates Hamlet from Claudius. Finally, the last page of “The Purloined Letter” goes as far as to suggest that the mirror tucked away within literary texts is the sovereign source of the poetry in them – a royal absence.
url http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
work_keys_str_mv AT henrijustin royaleabsence
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