Of Human Kindness
What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Empathy

i found this to be completely and utterly fascinating. i will definitely be rereading certain parts of this as i continue my shakespeare rereads and annotations......more

I love anything that makes me see Shakespeare clearer, and this warm and perceptive book tracks the growth of his characters in early plays to the middle and later plays, particularly in eliciting empathy. The author talks of "monumental tragic figures who are ostensibly nothing like us yet are capa......more

This is a straightforward and well-written book that needed a more accurate title: "... What I Have Learned About Empathy From Shakespeare", or perhaps "... How I Have Used Shakespeare To Teach My Students About Empathy". It is an exploration of Shakespeare's development of empathetic characterisati......more

Excellent book tracing the development of Shakespeare's moral imagination and his ability to generate empathy even for his villains (though without excusing the evil actions of those villains). My one criticism is a chapter about As You Like It which stretches too far to tie the play into modern att......more

Overall, the argument in the book is an interesting one. She maps out Shakespeare’s empathetic development through his plays. It was definitely interesting to see the thread of themes and character types that weave their way through his work. However, there were many times throughout the book that I......more