Shakespeare (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature)

This guide helps readers make sense of the most commonly taught writer in the world. One approach to Shakespeare is as a dramatist while another approach is to think of him as essentially a poetic writer. The tension between these two views is a theme in this book because it helps us to reflect upon changing literary and critical trends. This is primarily a book for readers of Shakespeare who most commonly experience Shakespeare-on-stage through imagined performances in their own heads. The book starts with a brief explanation of how Shakespeare's writings have come down to us as a series of scripts for actors in the early modern theatre industry of London. The first half of the book then interrogates Shakespearean genres, while the second half examines different critical approaches to his plays via the four key issues of authorship, performance, identity and materialism. The book returns repeatedly to such questions as: 'what has changed since Shakespeare's time?', 'to what uses has Shakespeare been put?', and 'what value is in Shakespeare?' - questions that go to the heart of why we study Shakespeare. Key Features*A chronology of Shakespeare's career as an actor/dramatist that locates him within the theatre industry of his time. *New readings of twelve plays that form a core of the Shakespeare canon: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard 2, Henry 5, Hamlet, Othello, All's Well that Ends Well, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens.*Critical analyses organized by genre (comedies, histories, tragedies, and romance) and by four key critical approaches: authorship, performance, identities, and materialism.*An extensive resources section, including a glossary of the important critical terms that are often used in debates about Shakespeare. (Vol 49 No 2) This book helps the reader make sense of the most commonly studied writer in the world. It starts with a brief explanation of how Shakespeare's writings have come down to us as a series of scripts for actors in the early modern theatre industry of London. The main chapters of the book approach the texts through a series of questions: 'what's changed since Shakespeare's time?', 'to what uses has Shakespeare been put?', and 'what value is there in Shakespeare?' These questions go to the heart of why we study Shakespeare at all, which question the book encourages the readers to answer for themselves in relation to their own critical writing.

Key Features

* A chronology of Shakespeare's career as an actor/dramatist that locates him within the theatre industry of his time
* New readings of twelve plays that form a core of the Shakespeare canon: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard 2, Henry 5, Hamlet, Othello, All's Well that Ends Well, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and Timon of AthensCritical analyses organized by genre (comedies, histories, tragedies, and romance) and by four key critical approaches: authorship, performance, identities, and materialism
* An extensive resources section, including a glossary of the important critical terms that are often used in debates about Shakespeare Annotation This book helps the reader make sense of the most commonly studied writer in the world. It starts with a brief explanation of how Shakespeare's writings have come down to us as a series of scripts for actors in the early modern theatre industry of London. The main chapters of the book approach the texts through a series of questions: 'what's changed since Shakespeare's time?', 'to what uses has Shakespeare been put?', and 'what value is there in Shakespeare?' These questions go to the heart of why we study Shakespeare at all, which question the book encourages the readers to answer for themselves in relation to their own critical writing. Key Features* A chronology of Shakespeare's career as an actor/dramatist that locates him within the theatre industry of his time* New readings of twelve plays that form a core of the Shakespeare canon: A Midsummer Night's Dream , Much Ado About Nothing , Richard 2 , Henry 5 , Hamlet , Othello , All's Well that Ends Well , The Winter's Tale , Macbeth , Measure for Measure , The Tempest , and Timon of Athens * Critical analyses organized by genre (comedies, histories, tragedies, and romance) and by four key critical approaches: authorship, performance, identities, and materialism* An extensive resources section, including a glossary of the important critical terms that are often used in debates about Shakespeare This book helps the reader make sense of the most commonly studied writer in the world. It starts with a brief explanation of how Shakespeare's writings have come down to us as a series of scripts for actors in the early modern theatre industry of London. The main chapters of the book approach the texts through a series of questions: 'what's changed since Shakespeare's time?', 'to what uses has Shakespeare been put?', and 'what value is there in Shakespeare?' These questions go to the heart of why we study Shakespeare at all, which question the book encourages the readers to answer for themselves in relation to their own critical writing. Key Features A chronology of Shakespeare's career as an actor/dramatist that locates him within the theatre industry of his time, li>New readings of twelve plays that form a core of the Shakespeare canon: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard 2, Henry 5, Hamlet, Othello, All's Well that Ends Well, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens Critical analyses organized by genre (comedies, histories, tragedies, and romance) and by four key critical approaches: authorship, performance, identities, and materialism An extensive resources section, including a glossary of the important critical terms that are often used in debates about Shakespeare COVER......Page 1 COPYRIGHT......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Series Preface......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Chronology......Page 11 Introduction......Page 24 PART I: Dramatic Genres......Page 40 1. Comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado about Nothing......Page 42 2. Histories: Richard 2 and Henry 5......Page 69 3. Tragedies: Hamlet and Othello......Page 104 4. Problem Plays and Romances: All's Well that Ends Well and The Winter's Tale......Page 144 PART II: Critical Approaches......Page 180 5. Authority and Authorship: Measure for Measure......Page 182 6. Performance: Macbeth......Page 203 7. Identities: The Tempest......Page 226 8. Materialism: Timon of Athens......Page 248 Conclusion......Page 271 Student Resources......Page 275 Index......Page 297