In Phenomenal Shakespeare, leading Shakespeare scholar Bruce R. Smith presents an original account for the ways in which Shakespeare s poems and plays continue to resonate with audiences, readers and scholars because of their engagement with the whole body, not just the reading mind. An original examination of Shakespeare s appeal written by leading Shakespeare scholar Bruce R. Smith Contains insightful examinations of a single Shakespeare sonnet, Venus and Adonis, and King Lear to model the possibilities of historical phenomenology as a better strategy for critical reading than approaches based on language alone Pushes beyond traditional treatments of Shakespeare An ideal handbook of contemporary approaches to Shakespeare and a celebration of Shakespeare's staying power on stage, on film, and on the page