Wide-ranging, accessible study of the power of insult across Shakespeare dramatic oeuvre. With its incisive, historically-informed close-readings and attention to the cultural resonance of different forms of insult, this work sheds light on the role and significance of insult within Shakespeares plays and in Elizabethan culture more broadly. * Cathy Shrank, University of Sheffield, UK * A sweeping, comprehensive and masterful work, which breaks new ground by bringing the full force of pragmatics, philology, and historical inquiry to bear on the issue of Shakespeares language of abuse, thereby recovering lost meanings, unlocking hidden contradictions, and restoring forgotten connections between the realm of injurious words and the realms of courtship, dueling, the market and the law Eye-opening, informative and entertaining, The Anatomy of Insults should be required reading for anyone interested in Shakespeares language of insults, and ultimately, in Shakespeares language. * Miranda *
