Gross receives NEH research fellowship

Gross began studying the Bard's fascination with slander, mockery, curses and other harmful and violent forms of language at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., five years ago.

In his book, tentatively titled Shakespeare's Noise: Bad Mouths and Anxious Ears, Gross will show how the playwright's use of abusive speech transcends the simple connotation of foul language. Rather, slander and rumor serve to liberate language and fantasy in the plays. Gross also will also examine the social and legal history of slander, defamation, and censorship in Shakespeare's time.

Gross has taught at the University since 1983. He has written broadly on Renaissance and modern poetry, on drama, and on the relations of literature and the visual arts. He is the author of two books of criticism: Spenserian Poetics: Idolatry, Iconoclasm, and Magic and The Dream of the Moving Statue.