Introduction

Abstract

According to the conventional wisdom of literary theory, it is not appropriate to respond to characters in literature as if they were real people. Today, in the context of post-structuralist theory, some critics question whether art does or can create stable representations of the world, whether language as a medium is used or even can be used to create characters that seem to behave in ways that accord with human psychology.¹ I think the conventional wisdom and the post-structuralist views turn us away from important modes of response to Shakespearean drama that depend on construing characters much as if they were real people? In this study I will argue that Shakespeare’s plays invite us to construct his characters as imagined persons, and I will explain how the psychology of his time and ours can be used to support this thesis.