Introduction

Abstract

It is, of course, not possible to ‘introduce’ Shakespeare or psychoanalysis as though neither had been encountered before; nor to ‘introduce’ Shakespeare to psychoanalysis, as if the two had never met, or were no longer on speaking terms, or were not already in dialogue from the outset, instead, since ‘intro-ducere means ‘to lead into’, it might only be possible to introduce these names, or texts, by attempting to direct inwards a reading which pursues the internal workings of both Shakespearean theatre and the psychoanalytic text, to in-duce or con-duct a flow of meaning back and forth between the two, rendering the intervening spaces ductile, and tracing the always circuitous leads connecting them.¹