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...

Full description

Saved in:
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:https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832578529747795968
author Henri Justin
author_facet Henri Justin
author_sort Henri Justin
collection DOAJ
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.
format Article
id doaj-art-35ad45db6c5549729c9841b1c7d252b9
institution Kabale University
issn 1272-3819
1969-6302
language English
publishDate 2018-12-01
publisher Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
record_format Article
series Sillages Critiques
spelling doaj-art-35ad45db6c5549729c9841b1c7d252b92025-01-30T13:47:02ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022018-12-012510.4000/sillagescritiques.7343Royale 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.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
spellingShingle Henri Justin
Royale Absence
Sillages Critiques
title Royale Absence
title_full Royale Absence
title_fullStr Royale Absence
title_full_unstemmed Royale Absence
title_short Royale Absence
title_sort royale absence
url https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7343
work_keys_str_mv AT henrijustin royaleabsence