Eric Langley

Dr Eric Langley's book, Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries, was published by Oxford University Press in November 2009. Understanding self-love and self-slaughter in terms of self-reflexivity and aggressive isolationism, the book considers the rhetoric of introspection and period conceptions of individualism, reading the narcissist and suicide in relation to Renaissance ocular theory, the pastoral tradition, Ovid, classical influence, and religious text. Current research considers Shakespeare and other early modern authors in relation to period anxieties concerning plague and infection, metaphors of transmission, the nature of poison and medicine (pharmaceutical rhetoric), the figure of the parasite, and notions of hospitality/hostility. Other recent or ongoing research considers Renaissance erotica, friendship essays, early modern letters, suicide notes, illegitimacy, and Herge.

EN1106 Shakespeare

EN2010 Renaissance Lit

EN3011 Advanced Shakespeare

EN5731 Shakespeare MA - The Works

Dr Eric Langley (BA hons, MA dist, PhD: Leeds) was awarded his PhD in 2003, and since then has taught at the Universities of York, St Andrews, Sheffield, and UCL.