Human violence is a worldwide problem, according to the World Health Organization, and a major cause of mortality and morbidity. There is good evidence that homicide rates vary around the world, but most perpetrators are male, and it seems that there is no country or culture in the world where men do not constitute at least 80% of violence perpetrators. Yet most men are not violent and in most countries with stable governments, violence against others remains an uncommon way to break the criminal law.

So human violence is complex, not simple, and human beings have been asking questions about it for millennia. But before data-based empirical approaches were used in the study of violence, humans used drama and poetry to try to understand human cruelty; and arguably no one did this better than Shakespeare. This is the thesis of a rich and intriguing book by Jim Gilligan and David Richards, both of whom have experience in these fields. Professor Gilligan has studied male violence in society for decades, and advised governments and presidents how to address it; Professor Richards is an expert on jurisprudence, justice and the effects of patriarchal thinking on law. Together, they bring a truly informed perspective to an analysis of motives for male violence in Shakespeare's works.

They have a wealth of material on which to draw; not only the tragedies of Othello, Macbeth, King Lear and Hamlet, but also the history plays and the plays that deal expressly with justice, such as Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice. What the authors are keen to communicate is the role of patriarchy as a social system that ‘deforms’ both male and female identities. Under such a system, the only acceptable masculinity is one that is based on dominance of others and denigration of vulnerability. A man operating within this idea of masculinity will struggle with any experience that causes him to lose status, to be ‘seen’ by others as lost or vulnerable. The resulting sense of shame is so intolerable it can only be expelled from a man's mind by a bodily action that lands the shame on another person, and is then destroyed. Othello is the most obvious example here, but the authors also point out that the same dynamic is present in Macbeth and in The Merchant of Venice.

The bulk of the book is given over to further examples, beautifully illustrated with textual extracts. Gilligan and Richards make a strong case for Shakespeare as the first psychologist of the modern era as well as having a unique empathy for the human heart, and the male heart at that. If you love Shakespeare and have compassion for the problem of toxic masculinity, this is essential reading.