Shakespeare for the wiser sort : solving Shakespeare's riddles in The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, King John, 1-2 Henry IV, The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Othello, Macbeth, and Cymbeline / Steve Sohmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sohmer, Steve, author.

Contributor:

Frost, Matthew, other.

Manchester University Press, publisher.

Series:

Manchester Shakespeare collection.

Manchester Shakespeare collection

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Literary style.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Literary style.

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

Criticism and interpretation.

Riddles in literature.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 192 pages) : illustrations; digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Solving Shakespeare's riddles in The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, King John, 1-2 Henry IV, The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Othello, Macbeth, and Cymbeline

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2018.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

William Shakespeare's plays are riddled with passages, scenes and sudden plot twists which baffle and confound the most devoted playgoer and the most attentive commentator. Why, for example, didn't Hamlet succeed to the throne of Denmark at the instant of his father's death? (It's not because the Danish throne was elective.) Why does Chorus in Romeo and Juliet promise his audience 'two houres trafficke of our stage' when the play obviously runs almost three hours? How is it that Old Hamlet sent his son to school in (Protestant) Wittenberg but his Ghost was sent to (Catholic) Purgatory? and is there cause-and-effect here? How can Lancelot Gobbo be correct (and he is) when he claims Black Monday (the day after Easter) and Ash Wednesday (the 41st day before Easter) once fell on the same day? And what is a 'dram of eale'? This engaging and lucid book solves these tantalizing riddles and many others.

Contents:

1. '... to please the wiser sort.': Shakespeare's other (smarter) audience2. 'Doubt thou the starres are fire ....': the new philosophy in Hamlet3. 'The time is out of joint': Queen Elizabeth's calendar muddle4. Shakespeare's time-riddles in Romeo and Juliet solved5. 'Two and fortie houres': did Shakespeare know Bandello?6. Disrobing images: Shakespeare rewrites the Holy Ghost7. The 'double time' crux in Othello solved8. 'Who's there?': the men behind the masks of Falstaff, Faulconbridge, Lamord, and Hamlet.

Notes:

In-house editor: Matthew Frost.

First published in print form: 2007.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print record.

Other Format:

Print version: Sohmer, Steve. Shakespeare for the wiser sort: solving Shakespeare's riddles in the Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, King John, 1-2 Henry IV, the Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Othello, Macbeth and Cymberline,

ISBN:

9781526135124

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.