In The Vanishing Christopher Pye combines psychoanalytic
and cultural theory to advance an innovative interpretation of Renaissance
history and subjectivity. Locating the emergence of the modern subject
in the era’s transition from feudalism to a
modern societal state, Pye supports his argument
with interpretations of diverse cultural and literary phenomena, including
Shakespeare’s Hamlet and King Lear, witchcraft and demonism, anatomy
theaters, and the paintings of Michelangelo.
“Christopher Pye's elegantly written and argued The Vanishing is a terrific book. It could by itself renew interest in the merits and possibilities of psychoanalytic theory not only for reading early modern culture but for literary studies more generally.”— Karen Newman, author of Fashioning Femininity and English Renaissance Drama
Also by Christopher Pye:
The Regal Phantasm: Shakespeare and the Politics of Spectacle (1990)