The time is out of joint. Shakespeare as Philosopher of History

This work covers the Shakespearean ouvre from a philosophical perspective, finding that Shakespeare´s historical dramas reflect issues and reveal puzzles which were later taken up by philosophy proper. Shakespeare´s extraordinary handling of time and temporality, the difference between truth and fact, that of theory, and that of interpretation and revelatory truth are evaluated in terms of Shakespeare´s own conjectural endeavours, and are compared with early modern, modern and post-modern thought. Heller shows that modernity found in Shakespeare´s work a revelatory character which marked the end of both metaphysical system-building and a tragic reckoning with the accessibility of an absolute truth. Heller distinguishes the four stages found in constantly unique relation in Shakespeare´s work and probes their significance as time comes to fall "out of joint" and may again be set aright.