"That foul defacer of God’s handiwork": Bodies in the Hebrew Bible and Richard III

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Date:
August 31 2021
Length:
40min 17s
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4
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1815
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Series: Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought

Parsha:
Bereishit 

Collections: Twice Blest: Exploring Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible

Description

If, as we’re told in the Hebrew Bible, "God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good" (Genesis 1:31), how are we to understand physical imperfection? As "mistakes" by the divine? Manifestations of malfeasance? Or misinterpretations of creation? In this episode, Dr. Jeffrey R. Wilson explains the discourses of theology, physiognomy, and monstrosity that influenced Shakespeare’s representation of Richard III’s misshapen body and behavior, as well as the ongoing implications of relating internal essence and external appearance.

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