The mind's construction : an introduction to mindreading in Shakespeare --
Reading the mind : cognitive science and close reading --
Inferring the mind : parasites and the breakdown of inference in Othello --
Imagining the mind : empathy and misreading in Much Ado About Nothing --
Integrating minds : blending methods in The King Is Alive and Twelfth Night --
Finding the frame : inference in Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet --
Reading incoherence : how Shakespeare speaks back to cognitive science --
Mindreading as engagement : active spectators and "The Strangers' Case.

Cognition, Mindreading, and Shakespeare's Characters brings cognitive science to Shakespeare, applying contemporary theories of mindreading to Shakespeare's construction of character. Building on the work of the philosopher Alvin Goldman and cognitive literary critics such as Bruce McConachie and Lisa Zunshine, Nicholas Helms uses the language of mindreading to analyze inference and imagination throughout Shakespeare's plays, dwelling at length on misread minds in King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare manipulates the mechanics of misreading to cultivate an early modern audience of adept mindreaders, an audience that continues to contemplate the moral ramifications of Shakespeare's characters even after leaving the playhouse. Using this cognitive literary approach, Helms reveals how misreading fuels Shakespeare's enduring popular appeal and investigates the ways in which Shakespeare's characters can both corroborate and challenge contemporary cognitive theories of the human mind.