The Analyst and the Bard

Anna Ballan reviews 'Second Chances: Shakespeare and Freud' by Stephen Greenblatt and Adam Phillips. Highlighting psychoanalysis' impact on literature, the book delves into the concept of 'second chances' in Shakespeare's plays and their psychological interpretations. Greenblatt and Phillips explore themes of loss, recovery, and the human longing for alternative lives or revisiting the past.

• The book was published by Yale University Press in 2024.
• Greenblatt is a celebrated Shakespearean scholar.
• Phillips is both a psychoanalyst and an author.
• The book uses plain, lucid language.
• It discusses 'Macbeth', 'King Lear', 'Othello', and 'The Winter’s Tale'.