The Cambridge introduction to Shakespeare / Emma Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Emma, 1970-

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Cambridge introductions to literature

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Handbooks and manuals.

Physical Description:

ix, 166 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

Innovative and engaging, this introduction to Shakespeare promotes active involvement with the plays and proves that there is space for new and fresh thinking even on the most-studied and familiar texts. The study covers a range of examples and is divided into seven subject based chapters: Character, Performance, Texts, Language, Structure, Sources, History.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Character 1

Juliet's balcony, Verona 1

Shakespeare's realism? 3

Shakespeare's 'unreal' characters 4

Reading Shakespeare's characters on the page 6

Embodying Shakespeare's characters on stage 7

Doubling on the early modern stage 8

Writing for particular actors 11

Falstaff: character as individual or type? 12

Naming and individuality 12

Characters as individuals or as inter-relationships 14

Character: interior or exterior? 17

Character: where next? 19

Chapter 2 Performance 23

Measure for Measure: staging silence 23

'Going back to the text': the challenge of performance 26

Performance interpretations: The Taming of the Shrew 27

Topical performance: the plays in different theatrical contexts 30

Citing performances 32

Using film 33

Using film comparatively: Macbeth 35

Hamlet: 'To be or not to be' 39

Adaptations: Shakespearean enough? 41

Performance: where next? 42

Chapter 3 Texts 46

Shakespeare's hand 46

So what did Shakespeare write? 47

Stage to page 48

Quartos and Folio 49

Editing as interpretation 50

The job of the editor: the example of Richard II 53

Stage directions 57

Speech prefixes 60

The job of the editor: the example of King Lear 61

Texts: where next? 65

Chapter 4 Language 71

'In a double sense'(Macbeth 5.7.50) 71

Did anyone really talk like that? 72

Playing with language 77

Language of the play / language of the person 79

Prose and verse 81

Linguistic shifts: 1 Henry IV 82

Shakespeare's verse 84

Linguistic variation: A Midsummer Night's Dream 85

Language: where next? 87

Chapter 5 Structure 90

Finding the heart of the play 90

Shakespeare's genres: dynamic, not static 93

Tragedy and comedy 94

Tragedy - expanding the genre 95

Comedy - expanding the genre 98

History: is this a fixed genre? 101

Structuring scenes: Much Ado About Nothing 103

Juxtaposing scenes, activating ironies: Henry V 104

Showing v. telling 106

Structure: where next? 107

Antony and Cleopatra and Plutarch 113

Originality: was Shakespeare a plagiarist? 116

Shakespeare at work: the intentional fallacy? 118

The source bites back: Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale 120

The strong poet? King Lear 127

Sources: where next? 131

Chapter 7 History 134

Politic picklocks: interpreting topically 134

History plays: political Shakespeare? 136

History plays: Shakespeare as propagandist? 138

Hamlet as history play? 140

Jacobean patronage: King Lear and Macbeth 142

Historical specificity: gender roles 144

Race and Othello 148

History: where next? 153.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-161) and index.

ISBN:

0521855993

9780521855990

0521671884

9780521671880

OCLC:

71779051

Online:

Publisher description