{"product_id":"augustines-confessions-and-shakespeares-king-kim-paffenroth-9781350500877","title":"Augustine's Confessions and Shakespeare's King Lear: Power, Parenthood, and Presence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaffenroth returns to two of the most quintessentially commanding yet vulnerable protagonists in the Western canon - Augustine, the real life, fifth century bishop of Hippo, known to us mostly through his own telling of his life in \u003ci\u003eConfessions\u003c\/i\u003e; and King Lear, the legendary king of Briton, known to us mostly from Shakespeare's version of his tragic end. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHaving examined problems addressed in both works of love, language, nature, and reason, Paffenroth here picks up more purely relational matters: both protagonists wield (or have wielded) power over others, yet struggle to learn its right application; both raise children, but have deeply problematic relations with their children, their partners, and (in the case of Augustine at least) their parents; neither has an intuitive or unproblematic relationship with a fully present God or gods - Augustine struggles mightily to have such, while Lear cries out to heaven but it is unclear he ever gets a reply. As different as the books and men are, how they relate to women and God shows illuminating and complementary points of comparison.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kim Paffenroth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1350500879\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350500877\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 136\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Kim Paffenroth","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47452907045119,"sku":"9781350500877","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c812f27c-145f-45d6-a96d-473ad268d9e4.jpg?v=1761931193","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/augustines-confessions-and-shakespeares-king-kim-paffenroth-9781350500877","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}