The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

This Companion acquaints the student reader with the forms, contexts, critical and theatrical lives of ten Shakespearean tragedies. It includes the four major tragedies and Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens. Chapters on a demanding theatrical genre are clear, concise and informative. They consider how Shakespearean tragedy originated, developed and diversified; and how it has fared in performance. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy acquaints the student reader with the forms, contexts, critical and theatrical lives of the ten plays considered to be Shakespeare's tragedies. Shakespearean tragedy is a highly complex and demanding theatre genre, but the thirteen essays, written by leading scholars in Britain and North America, are clear, concise and informative. They address the ways in which Shakespearean tragedy originated, developed and diversified, as well as how it has fared on stage, as text and in criticism. Topics covered include the literary precursors of Shakespearean tragedies (medieval, classical, and contemporary), cultural backgrounds (political, religious, social, and psychological), and the subgenres of Shakespeare's tragedy (love tragedy, revenge tragedy, and classical tragedy), as well as the critical and theatrical receptions of the plays. The book examines the four major tragedies and, in addition, Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens Cover 1 The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy 2 Contents 6 List of illustrations 8 List of contributors 9 Preface 10 Chronology 12 List of abbreviations 14 1 What is a Shakespearean tragedy? 16 2 The language of tragedy 38 3 Tragedy in Shakespeare’s career 65 4 Shakespearean tragedy printed and performed 84 5 Religion and Shakespearean tragedy 101 6 Tragedy and political authority 118 7 Gender and family 138 8 The tragic subject and its passions 157 9 Tragedies of revenge and ambition 175 10 Shakespeare’s tragedies of love 197 11 Shakespeare’s classical tragedies 219 12 The critical reception of Shakespeare’s tragedies 239 13 Antony and Cleopatra in the theatre 256 Select bibliography 279 Acquaints the student reader with the forms, contexts, and critical and theatrical lives of the ten plays considered to be Shakespeare's tragedies. Shakespearean tragedy is a highly complex and demanding theatre genre, but the thirteen essays, written by leading scholars in Britain and North America, are clear, concise and informative Edited By Claire Mceachern. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 264-271) And Index.