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Inherited from classical rhetoric, apostrophe is a trope of direct address shared between dramatic and lyric poetry. In early modern drama, apostrophe functions to highlight moments of heightened emotion when characters reach out to invoke the aid of an external force or idea. It functioned as a powerful tool for investigating the wellsprings of human emotion in a lexicon of emotions made available by public theater. Apostrophe is an ideal focus for historicist investigation because it reveals the period-specific shape of emotions in the still-enchanted cosmos of premodernity. This chapter considers four famous Shakespearean apostrophes: Juliet’s address to “fiery footed steeds” to speed Romeo’s arrival; Lear’s address to the storm to “blow winds and crack your cheeks”; Lady Macbeth’s invocation to spirits to “unsex me here”; and Edmund’s apostrophe in King Lear to the goddess Nature to “stand up for bastards.” Shakespearean apostrophe constitutes an occasion for the expression of trans-historical emotions such as rage, fear, and jealousy within dramatic contexts of great historical resonance .
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