Chapter 5. Decoding the parentheses in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus
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Guohua Chen
Abstract
Though it has been pointed out that Shakespeare uses the figure parenthesis “extensively, especially in his later plays” (Joseph 1947: 57), it has been more often marginalized, if not totally neglected. The present paper contends that parenthesis contributes greatly to characterization and the development of conflicts in dramatic texts. Through a detailed analysis of its use in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, this paper attempts to illustrate the significance of parenthesis. At the rhetorical level, parenthesis may have the dual functions of varying and amplifying as differentiated by Adamson (1999). For example, a parenthesis may take the form of a noun phrase in apposition to its antecedent as a way of varying and it may take the form of a non-restrictive relative clause as a way of amplifying, and therefore helps achieve diverse rhetorical effects and convey rich rhetorical meanings. For this reason, a functional study of the subjective and interpersonal function of parentheses can provide clues to a deeper understanding of speaker-hearer relationship, hence of overall dramatic characterization and conflict management.
Abstract
Though it has been pointed out that Shakespeare uses the figure parenthesis “extensively, especially in his later plays” (Joseph 1947: 57), it has been more often marginalized, if not totally neglected. The present paper contends that parenthesis contributes greatly to characterization and the development of conflicts in dramatic texts. Through a detailed analysis of its use in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, this paper attempts to illustrate the significance of parenthesis. At the rhetorical level, parenthesis may have the dual functions of varying and amplifying as differentiated by Adamson (1999). For example, a parenthesis may take the form of a noun phrase in apposition to its antecedent as a way of varying and it may take the form of a non-restrictive relative clause as a way of amplifying, and therefore helps achieve diverse rhetorical effects and convey rich rhetorical meanings. For this reason, a functional study of the subjective and interpersonal function of parentheses can provide clues to a deeper understanding of speaker-hearer relationship, hence of overall dramatic characterization and conflict management.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enregistering the North 13
- Chapter 2. The origin and development of the iffy-an(d) conjunction 31
- Chapter 3. From ornament to armament 49
- Chapter 4. Borrowing and copy 71
- Chapter 5. Decoding the parentheses in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus 87
- Chapter 6. The first person in fiction of the 1790s 111
- Chapter 7. “Worth a moment’s notice” 129
- Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists 151
- Chapter 9. Dismantling narrative modes 171
- Chapter 10. Stylistics and “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by W.B. Yeats 195
- Index 213
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enregistering the North 13
- Chapter 2. The origin and development of the iffy-an(d) conjunction 31
- Chapter 3. From ornament to armament 49
- Chapter 4. Borrowing and copy 71
- Chapter 5. Decoding the parentheses in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus 87
- Chapter 6. The first person in fiction of the 1790s 111
- Chapter 7. “Worth a moment’s notice” 129
- Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists 151
- Chapter 9. Dismantling narrative modes 171
- Chapter 10. Stylistics and “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by W.B. Yeats 195
- Index 213
